ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Alpacas

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will seek to introduce a legislative change which will define alpacas as livestock.

Jim Knight: I have no plans to introduce a legislative change which will include alpacas to be defined as livestock.
	I am unsure of the context of the question but there is some existing legislation which may be relevant to this issue. For example, the Agriculture Act 1947 provides that 'livestock includes any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur, or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land'. Alpacas could conceivably fall within this definition. Also, the Department issued guidance last year that, for the purposes of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, alpacas should be considered to be 'domesticated' rather than 'wild' animals.

Antibiotics

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has had made of the impact on human health of the use of antibiotics on farms; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: There is increasing scientific support for the view that the increase in antimicrobial resistance affecting human health is primarily the result of the use of antibiotics in human rather than veterinary medicines.
	Nonetheless, we take this issue very seriously and in June 2000, published a cross-Government strategy to address the issue. In 1999 the Defra Antimicrobial Resistance Co-ordination (DARC) Group was established. Details of the work of this group, together with other information about antimicrobials and links to related websites, are available on the VMD website (www.vmd.gov.uk). We recognise that veterinary medicines, including antimicrobials, are required to ensure healthy food animals in the UK, but we believe that their use should not replace good farm management and animal husbandry systems. We believe that antimicrobials should be used responsibly in food animal production and have issued guidelines in the Code of Practice on the Responsible Use of Animal Medicines on the Farm, produced by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). We also support the industry's Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA), which has also published responsible use guidelines for antimicrobials that have been adopted by assurance schemes for the five major food-producing species. Also, as a precautionary measure, the use of antimicrobial growth promoters in the EU will be banned from 1 January 2006.
	The VMD annually collates and publishes figures on the UK sales of all veterinary antimicrobials. These are likely to reflect usage of antimicrobials in animals. The figures illustrate that, whilst sales of some groups of antimicrobials have increased, others have decreased or remained relatively constant over time. The VMD, in collaboration with the Department of Health, has prepared and published a list of all antimicrobial therapeutic ingredients authorised for use in animals and humans. This illustrates that many antibiotic substances used in human medicine are not used in animals.
	A number of research projects designed to provide scientific data to inform further consideration of relevant issues are also underway. These range from investigating the mechanism of antimicrobial resistance transfer in organisms, to investigating the husbandry factors on farms which might lead to reduced antimicrobial usage, thereby reducing the potential for the development of antimicrobial resistance. Details of these projects can be found on the VMD website.

Bridleways and Footpaths

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish her response to the consultation on vehicles on bridleways and footpaths.

Jim Knight: In response to the consultation paper on the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on rights of way, 'The Government's framework for action' was published on 20 January, which set out a commitment to legislate and provide new guidance.
	The legislative commitment is being delivered through Part 6 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill, which was introduced to the House on 19 May.
	A comprehensive revision of the departmental publication 'Making the Best of Byways' and a new enforcement guidance document will be published this summer.

Brockeridge Farm

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to make a decision on the exchange of land from common land to access land at Brockeridge Farm, Twyning, Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The application for an Order of Exchange, made under section 147 of the Inclosure Act 1845, in relation to land at Brockeridge Common, Twyning, Gloucestershire was received by the Department on 2 September 2004. On 17 September officials wrote to the solicitors acting for the applicants seeking further information. A reply was received on 23 May 2005 and the documentation is being scrutinised. The procedures are complex and applications can take some time to determine, so I am not in a position to say if, or when, an Order might be made. The outcome will depend on the Secretary of State being satisfied that the exchange is fair to the parties involved, and its terms just and reasonable.

Climate Change

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the level of (a) carbon dioxide emissions and (b) greenhouse gas emissions has been in the UK in each year since 1990; and what the percentage change was in each case since 1990 in each case.

Elliot Morley: The information is as follows:
	(a) The following table contains the carbon dioxide emission from 1990 to 2003 expressed as million tonnes of carbon equivalent (MtCeq). The figures are based on the 2005 national inventory report which contains national estimates from 1990 and 2003 inclusive. Percentage changes are shown as a year-on-year change and as a total change from 1990.
	
		
			  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 
		
		
			 C0 2  (MtCeq) 165.4 167.2 162.9 159.0 157.0 154.7 160.6 
			 Year-on-year change (percentage) — 1.1 -2.5 -2.4 -1.2 -1.5 3.8 
			 Change from 1990 (percentage) — 1.1 -1.5 -3.9 -5.1 -6.5 -2.9 
		
	
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 C0 2  (MtCeq) 153.9 154.5 151.7 152.8 157.4 152.7 156.1 
			 Year-on-year change (percentage) -4.1 0.4 -1.8 0.7 3.0 -3.0 2.2 
			 Change from 1990 (percentage) -6.9 -6.5 -8.2 -7.6 -4.8 -7.7 -5.6 
		
	
	(b) Similarly, the following table contains UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the same period, weighted together using global warming potentials:
	
		
			  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 
		
		
			 GHG (MtCeq) 208.8 210.0 203.5 198.0 195.4 192.9 199.2 
			 Year-on-year change (percentage) — 0.6 -3.1 -2.7 -1.3 -1.3 3.3 
			 Change from 1990 (percentage) — 0.6 -2.5 -5.2 -6.4 -7.6 -4.6 
		
	
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 GHG (MtCeq) 192.9 191.3 182.1 181.8 185.0 179.5 181.6 
			 Year-on-year change (percentage) -3.2 -0.8 -4.8 -0.2 1.8 -3.0 1.2 
			 Change from 1990 (percentage) -7.6 -8.4 -12.8 -12.9 -11.4 -14.0 -13.0

Fox Hunting

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to evaluate the effects of the recent ban on fox hunting.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government have no plans to evaluate the effects of the Hunting Act 2005, beyond its normal arrangements for monitoring rural areas.

Fox Hunting Ban

Mr. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to monitor (a) the welfare of the fox, (b) changes in population numbers of urban and rural foxes and (c) effects on rural employment following the ban on hunting of foxes with hounds.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra has no plans to institute new arrangements to monitor the welfare or population levels of the rural or urban fox, although it will retain an overview of these issues as part of its general animal welfare responsibilities. Similarly, Defra has no plans to monitor the effects of the Hunting Act 2005 on employment, beyond its normal arrangements for monitoring rural areas

Severn Flood Defences

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the consultation period being undertaken by the Environment Agency on flood defences on the Tidal Severn will end.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency advise that the consultation period will end on 29 July 2005.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Learning

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government are taking to encourage adults to learn new skills.

Phil Hope: On March 22 we published our White Paper setting out our policies and progress in improving adult education and skills-entitled Skills: Getting on in business, getting on at work. Our aim with this White Paper is to help even more adults to get the skills they need to move from welfare into jobs and to progress in their careers. It builds on the infrastructure established through the national Skills Strategy published in 2003. It announced our plans for further improving adult provision, including the roll out of the National Employer Training Programme, the creation of new Skills Academies to deliver training in each sector, the national roll-out of the entitlement to free tuition to NVQ Level 2, and an improved and extended service to deliver advice and guidance on careers, training and support.

Connexions Service

Mr. O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which Ministers have had responsibility for the Careers Service and the Connexions Service since May 1997; and if she will make a statement on her plans for the Connexions Service.

Maria Eagle: Ministers with responsibility for the Careers Service and Connexions Service since May 1997 have been as follows:
	
		
			  Dates  Minister of State Under Secretary of State 
		
		
			 May 1997-July 1998 Tessa Blackstone Kim Howells 
			 July 1998-July 1999 Tessa Blackstone George Mudie 
			 July 1999-June 2001 Tessa Blackstone Malcolm Wicks 
			 June 2001-June 2002 Margaret Hodge Ivan Lewis 
			 June-December 2002 Margaret Hodge Stephen Twigg 
			 December 2002-June 2003 Margaret Hodge Ivan Lewis 
			 June 2003-May 2005 Margaret Hodge only — 
			 May 2005-present Beverley Hughes Maria Eagle 
		
	
	Proposals for Connexions and the delivery of services for 13 to 19-year-olds will be set out in the Youth Green Paper which we intend to publish in due course.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the cost of extending education maintenance allowances to all students who remain in post-16 education.

Bill Rammell: The following tables show the estimated take up and cost of education maintenance allowances (EMAs). Estimates in Table One are based on the current scheme and the household income thresholds that apply in 2004–05. The second table gives estimates for all 16 to 18-year-olds in post-16 further education and assumes that all are eligible for £30 EMA per week plus bonuses. The tables also take account of drop-out from the scheme.
	
		Estimated take-up and cost of EMA for eligible 16 to 18-year-olds in England
		
			  2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 
		
		
			 Take-up 303,300 409,800 442,100 437,200 427,300 
			 Cost  
			 Financial year 253 375 436 443 438 
			 Academic year 297 414 446 442 436 
		
	
	
		Estimated take-up and cost of EMA assuming all 16 to 18-year-olds in post-16 further education receive the maximum payment of £30 per week
		
			  2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 
		
		
			 Take-up 565,000 807,100 898,400 910,400 916,100 
			 Cost  
			 Financial year 526 852 1,032 1,079 1,088 
			 Academic year 643 957 1,069 1,083 1,091

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of Government spending on the education maintenance allowance projected for each year from 2004–05 to 2009–10; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The following table shows the estimated take up and cost of education maintenance allowances (EMAs) for young people in post 16 further education, projected for each year from 2004–05 to 2008–09. Estimates for 2009–10 are not currently available. These estimates are based on the current scheme and the household income thresholds that apply in 2004–05. The table also takes account of drop-out from the scheme.
	
		Estimated take-up and cost of EMA for eligible 16 to 18-year-olds in England
		
			   Cost (£ million) 
			  Take-up (Number) Financial year(1) Academic year(2) 
		
		
			 2004/05 303,300 253 297 
			 2005/06 409,800 375 414 
			 2006/07 442,100 436 446 
			 2007/08 437,200 443 442 
			 2008/09 427,300 438 436

Free School Meals

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what restrictions are applicable to the choice of (a) food and (b) drinks for children in receipt of free school meals.

Jacqui Smith: Since 2001 all school lunches must comply with statutory nutritional standards. Subject to these standards, the contents of individual school meals is a matter for either school governing bodies or local education authorities, depending on whether or not funding has been delegated to schools. DfES has published Healthy School Lunch guidance in which the Secretary of State strongly recommends that the value of a free school meal should be set to enable eligible children to have a standard two course lunch and drink. Schools are strongly encouraged to provide drinking water free of charge. Pupils entitled to free school meals cannot substitute other school food such as breakfast or break-time snacks for food served at lunchtime.

School Truancy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the truancy levels were in schools in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) England in each year since 1995.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is as follows:
	
		Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absences for schools in Gloucestershire and England
		
			  Gloucestershire England 
			 Academic year Primary Secondary Primary Secondary 
		
		
			 1994/95 0.3 0.4 0.5 1.0 
			 1995/96 0.3 0.4 0.5 1.0 
			 1996/97 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.0 
			 1997/98 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.1 
			 1998/99 0.3 0.4 0.5 1.1 
			 1999/2000 0.3 0.5 0.5 1.0 
			 2000/01 0.2 0.5 0.5 1.1 
			 2001/02 0.2 0.5 0.5 1.1 
			 2002/03(1) 0.24 0.51 0.43 1.07 
			 2003/04(1) 0.23 0.56 0.41 1.14 
		
	
	(1) Figures have only been published to two decimal places since 2003.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Coal Health Claims

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much had been paid to the Union of Democratic Mineworkers in respect of handling fees for coal health claims up to 31 March.

Malcolm Wicks: As at 31 March 2005, the total paid to UDM solicitors for fees under the schemes was £19 million.

Coal Health Claims

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much had been paid to solicitors in respect of legal fees for coal health claims up to 31 March; and how much had been paid to each of the top 20 firms of solicitors.

Malcolm Wicks: As of 31 March 2005, the total paid in solicitors for fees under the scheme was £493.5 million. The 20 highest paid solicitors under the scheme as at 31 March 2005 were:
	
		
			 Solicitor Total solicitors costs (£ million) 
		
		
			 Thompsons 66.6 
			 Hugh James Ford Simey 54.5 
			 Raleys Solicitors 43.8 
			 Browell Smith and Co 31.2 
			 Mark Gilbert Morse 28.3 
			 Beresfords Solicitors 27.2 
			 Union Of Democratic Mineworkers 19.0 
			 Graysons 18.3 
			 Watson Burton 16.3 
			 Towells Solicitors 12.2 
			 Moss Solicitors 10.2 
			 Irwin Mitchell 9.9 
			 Randell Lloyd Jenkins and Martin 8.9 
			 The Legal Warehouse 7.2 
			 Conies 6.8 
			 Kidd and Spoor Harper Solicitors 6.8 
			 AMSLaw 6.4 
			 O H Parsons 6.4 
			 Wake Smith 5.6 
			 Ingrams Solicitors 5.5

E-mail

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will estimate the proportion of the adult population in (a) the UK, (b) the South West and (c) South Gloucestershire that had domestic access to e-mail (i) in the latest year for which estimates are available and (ii) five years earlier.

Alun Michael: The Office for National Statistics does not produce figures for home adult email access but they do produce household Internet access figures, which are quoted as follows.
	The percentage of households able to access the Internet from home in Q4 2004 were:
	(i) (a) 52 per cent. for the whole of the UK
	(b) 50 per cent. for the South West
	(c) Unknown
	The percentage of households able to access the Internet from home in Q4 1999 were:
	(ii) (a) 20 per cent. for the whole of the UK
	(b) 19 per cent. for the South West
	(c) Unknown

Nuclear Industry

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions the Department has had with (a) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and (b) BNFL in respect of the future operation of the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) following the leakage of radioactively contaminated nitric acid at THORP in April.

Malcolm Wicks: DTI officials have had a number of discussions with both the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and British Nuclear Group (BNG) concerning the leak at THORP that resulted in the plant being closed. With regard to the future operation of THORP, the NDA and regulators are still looking at how best to proceed. We will wait for their advice before taking a decision on the way forward.

Gas

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact on UK businesses of the increase in wholesale gas prices and the increase in energy costs, with specific reference to the terms of (a) productivity and (b) competitiveness.

Malcolm Wicks: The impact on UK businesses of increases in gas and energy prices will depend on a variety of factors, including how much gas or energy a particular company uses, the degree of their exposure to spot and forward prices and the duration of high prices. It will also be affected by the energy prices paid by their competitors. A further sector-specific issue is whether they are in a competitive market where international trade sets the price or in a sector where prices are determined more locally and rising energy costs could be passed on.
	Despite recent rises, UK gas and electricity prices for industrial users in 2004 were lower in real terms than they were in 1994. In January 2005, UK gas and electricity prices for small, medium and large energy users were still below the EU median; for extra large electricity users their electricity prices were at the level of the EU median. However, individual companies will have agreed commercially confidential contract terms and prices which might differ from these averages.
	Data on the average industrial gas and electricity prices in the UK over time can be found in tables 3.3.1 Real Terms and 3.3.2 Real Terms at:
	www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy_prices/tables/table_331.xls
	Average gas price comparisons for different size categories of energy users across the EU can be found in tables 5.8.1, 5.8.2 and 5.8.3 at:
	www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy_prices/tables/table_581.xls and for electricity prices in tables 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3 and 5.4.4 at:
	www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/energy_prices/tables/table_541.xls
	There is anecdotal evidence that, for very large users of gas, gas prices in the UK are above those on the Continent. The Department is in discussion with the Energy Intensive Users Group and other industrial stakeholders to develop ideas for improving the operation of the forward market and to identify ways users can mitigate the effects of high forward gas prices. On 16 May the DTI held a seminar with major users to discuss forward gas prices and we are planning a further similar seminar with smaller users. We have undertaken research into the operation of the forward gas market. The report by independent consultants Global Insight can be found at http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/publications/policy/index.shtml

Miners' Compensation Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made since 1 April of the merits of asking the Serious Fraud Squad to investigate solicitors who have doubled-charged clients claiming under the coalminers' compensation scheme.

Malcolm Wicks: The regulation of solicitors is a matter for the Law Society. The Department continues to work closely with them on the issue of double charging.

Miners' Compensation Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which solicitors are refusing to agree his Department's proposed scheme of £500 minimum compensation for successful claims for miners' industrial disease.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 23 May 2005
	The £500 minimum payment is a proposal from the Claimants' Group of solicitors. A revised minimum payments proposal has recently been received and is under discussion between the parties. The Department has not yet been formally notified of any solicitors' refusal to agree to this proposal.

Veterinary Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the British Veterinary Association on the proposed legislation to abolish free prescriptions for veterinary purposes.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In my capacity as Minister with responsibility for competition, I met the British Veterinary Association to discuss the Competition Commission recommendations on prescription-only veterinary medicines on 18 September 2003. The draft legislation recently published proposes to implement their recommendation that prescriptions should be free for three years. Currently there is no requirement for free veterinary prescriptions.

Working Time Directive

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the implications for the working arrangements of hon. Members of the proposed changes to the rights of UK workers to opt out of the Working Time Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Working Time proposals are still under negotiation; any changes must be agreed by both the European Parliament and European Council.
	The Government are therefore not yet in a position to assess their impact. I will of course, submit a full Regulatory Impact Assessment when the final proposals are clear.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Electricity Green Tariff

Robert Key: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the House purchases electricity on a green tariff.

Stuart Bell: 11 per cent. of the electricity purchased for the parliamentary estate is from renewable sources.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Select Committees

Mr. Knight: To ask the Leader of the House if he will bring forward proposals during 2005 to combine the functions of the Procedure Committee and the former Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons in one new select committee.

Geoff Hoon: I have no plans to do so.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Licensing Changes

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions she has had with representatives of sports clubs which run small bars as ancillary businesses about the impact on those bars of the recent changes in licensing fees; and if she will make a statement.

James Purnell: The concerns of amateur sports clubs were debated in detail before the Licensing Act 2003 was passed. My Department held a number of meetings with the Central Council of Physical Recreation to discuss the effects of the Act on sports clubs with bars, and these discussions will continue as implementation proceeds.
	In introducing the new licensing regime, the Government have no intention of penalising those involved in running clubs, nor to affect the important roles such clubs play in local communities. The situation will remain under review, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made a commitment to an independent review of fee levels and associated costs, within a reasonable period after the new framework is fully introduced. The review will consider the concerns of sports clubs, and its results will inform any necessary adjustments to the levels of fees introduced under the Act.

National Sports Foundation

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether it is her policy that the creation of the National Sports Foundation should not have any impact on the amount of money directed to sport through the National Lottery.

Richard Caborn: In establishing the National Sports Foundation, we have no intention of reducing the amount of money spent on sport.

National Sports Foundation

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how the interests of (a) the Football Association, the Rugby Football Union, the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Lawn Tennis Association, (b) the Central Council for Physical Recreation and (c) other sports national governing bodies will be represented at the National Sports Foundation.

Richard Caborn: Discussions on how the interests of the sport national governing bodies will be represented at the National Sports Foundation are at an early stage. Further details will be announced in due course.

National Sports Foundation

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what criteria will be used to assess grant applications to the National Sports Foundation.

Richard Caborn: Discussions on what criteria will be used to assess grant applications to the National Sports Foundation are at an early stage and decisions will be taken in due course.

National Sports Foundation

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport where the offices of the National Sports Foundation will be located; how it will be organised; and how many people she expects that it will employ.

Richard Caborn: Discussions on where the National Sports Foundation will be located, its structure and its staffing levels are at an early stage and decisions will be taken in due course.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Sex Offenders

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many registered sex offenders are living in each housing executive district in Northern Ireland; how many of these have been relocated from other parts of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: As of 23 May there were 561 offenders living in the community who are subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This means they are required to notify the police of certain personal details, including their home address. The information is not available broken down by housing executive district or by jurisdictional origin.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Social Fund Community Care Grants

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the level of additional funding required for the Social Fund Community Care Grant scheme to ensure that all high and medium priority claims are met.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 23 May 2005
	The information is not available in the format requested.
	However, for 2004–05 we estimate that the amount of extra funding that would have been required to meet all high, medium and low priority needs is £204 million.

DEFENCE

Personnel Deployments

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British service personnel have been deployed or seconded to (a) Guantanamo Bay, (b) Guam and (c) Diego Garcia since 1995.

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British service personnel have been (a) deployed and (b) seconded to (i) Guantanamo Bay, (ii) Guam and (iii) Diego Garcia since 1994.

Adam Ingram: No British service personnel have been deployed operationally or seconded to other nations' armed forces to serve at Guantanamo Bay or Guam. The armed forces maintain a permanent presence on Diego Garcia, totalling some 40 service personnel.

Redundant Infantry Regiments

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate how many personnel will move from the future redundant infantry regiments to fill the future establishment figures for (a) The Royal Engineers, (b) The Royal Logistic Corps and (c) The Intelligence Corps.

Adam Ingram: As the hon. Member is aware, the progress towards a lasting settlement in Northern Ireland means that we are able to reduce the Infantry by four battalions. The 2,500 posts that will be freed-up as a result will be reinvested across the Army in order to produce more robust establishments and strengthen those trades critical to a sustainable expeditionary capability. In terms of those Arms and Services listed by the hon. Member, they will be strengthened by the numbers shown in the following table. She should note, however, that these figures are subject to future refinement.
	
		
			  Arm/service Posts reallocated from infantry battalion reductions 
		
		
			 Royal Engineers +456 
			 Royal Logistic Corps +285 
			 Intelligence Corps +113

Regimental Uniforms

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who meets the cost of the new uniforms and mess-dress of existing personnel up to the date of changeover for the future (a) Mercia, (b) Yorkshire and (c) Scottish regiments.

Don Touhig: Officers receive an initial outfit allowance to fund their first purchase of uniform and mess dress. Thereafter, a tax-free allowance is provided to enable them to maintain their uniform and dress. Soldiers' uniform is provided by the public purse.
	While much of the existing uniform may be used up until such time as it requires replacement, those elements deemed essential on transition (such as cap badges and buttons) will be provided from public funds.

Re-roling

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which infantry regiments and battalions have re-roled in the last six years; and what the duration was of re-roling.

Don Touhig: Data on the re-roling of Infantry Battalions before January 2000 is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. I can, however, provide detail of all Infantry re-roling (whereby Infantry Battalions change role) from January 2000 to May 2005 inclusive.
	
		Battalions re-roled to Armoured Infantry role January 2000-May 2005
		
			  Date (a)  Unit (b) Length of re-role period (approx. months) (e) 
		
		
			 March 2000 1st Battalion The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) 6 
			 August 2000 1st Battalion The Black Watch (The Highland Regiment) 6 
			 March 2001 1st Battalion The Kings Regiment 6 
			 March 2001 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 6 
			 April 2002 1st Battalion The Light Infantry 6 
			 September 2003 1st Battalion The Scots Guards 6 
			 March 2004 1st Battalion The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) 6 
		
	
	
		Battalions re-roled to Mechanised Infantry role January 2000-May 2005
		
			  Date (a)  Unit (b) Length of re-role period (approx. months) (e) 
		
		
			 March 2001 1st Battalion The Kings Own Scottish Borderers 3 
			 April 2001 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment 3 
			 February 2002 1st Battalion The Cheshire Regiment 3 
			 August 2002 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers 3 
			 May 2003 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards 3 
			 March 2004 1st Battalion The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment 3 
		
	
	
		Battalions re-roled to Air Assault role January 2000-May 2005
		
			  Date (a)  Unit (b) Length of re-role period (approx. months) (e) 
		
		
			 September 2003 1st Battalion The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) 3 
		
	
	
		Battalions re-roled to a Light role (from Mechanised, Armoured Infantry or Air Assault January 2000-May 2005
		
			  Date (a)  Unit (b) (c) Length of re-role (approx. months) 
		
		
			 March 2000 1st Battalion The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment 1 
			 March 2001 1st Battalion The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) 1 
			 April 2001 1st Battalion The Kings Own Royal Border Regiment 1 
			 April 2001 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 1 
			 April 2002 1st Battalion The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) 1 
			 May 2003 1st Battalion The Welsh Guards 1 
			 September 2003 1st Battalion The Irish Guards 1 
			 September 2003 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and The Ulster Defence Regiment) 1 
			 January 2004 1st Battalion The Kings Own Scottish Borderers 1 
			 March 2004 1st Battalion The Queens Lancashire Regiment 1

Service Personnel (General Election)

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will instigate a survey of all service personnel to discover how many were (a) registered to vote and (b) able to vote by post or other means in the General Election on 5 May.

Don Touhig: We are considering with the Electoral Commission a number of initiatives relating to service voting, including the conduct of research on levels of service voter registration. The exercise of a vote is however an entirely private matter, but we are examining whether there are any ways in which we could make it easier for service personnel to vote.

Siege of Kut

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the siege of Kut-el-Amara from December 1915 to April 1916.

Don Touhig: The Government does not have any plans to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the siege of Kut-el-Amara. The siege was a costly defeat for the allies and both the British Army and the British Indian Army lost many brave men in the siege and the attempts to relieve the besieged garrison and we honour their memory.

Spearhead Land Element

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which regiment or battalion comprises the future Spearhead Land Element (SLE); whether it is presently fully equipped; whether the present SLE is deployed; and when the future SLE will take over from the present SLE.

Adam Ingram: The 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets are currently undertaking the role of the Spearhead Land Element and they are not deployed at present. It is planned that the 1st Battalion The Green Howards will assume the role of SLE in July 2005 and I can confirm that both battalions are fully equipped to undertake this task.

Territorial Army

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the required commitment of Territorial Army personnel deployment; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: Future Army Structures will integrate further the Territorial Army (TA) with the Regular Army, ensuring a more relevant, capable and useable TA. There will be some adjustments to their capabilities to meet new requirements and to best support the Regular Army on operations. Work is continuing on these issues and an announcement will be made in due course.

Trafalgar Day

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements will be made for UK service personnel overseas to celebrate Trafalgar Day.

Adam Ingram: The annual commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar is primarily a concern for the Royal Navy with ships and establishments, both in the UK and overseas, traditionally holding mess dinners on 21 October to honour the Immortal Memory of Nelson and all those who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar. Requests have also been received from a number of our embassies for senior naval officers to attend dinners, which are currently under consideration.
	A programme of events is planned to take place in Gibraltar during the weekend of 28 to 30 October 2005. These include a Nelson exhibition, Beating the Retreat and reception, and a Royal Navy Ceremonial Guard Mount at His Excellency the Governor's residence. The Royal Navy will also be invited to exercise their Freedom of the City privileges.

UK Personnel (Balkans)

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effects of the declarations to the Joint Forces Agreement in Bosnia involving Morocco, OJ L34 of 8 February on the liability of UK personnel serving in the Balkans, with particular reference to culpability; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The declarations attached to the Agreement between the EU and the Kingdom of Morocco on the participation of Morocco in the EU operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has no effect on the liability of UK personnel serving in the Balkans. The declarations place the Kingdom of Morocco on the same footing as the other troop contributing nations with regard to reciprocal waiver of claims arising out of the deployment of their forces.

War Disablement Pensions

Mr. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why people who enlisted in the armed services during the second world war and who worked in mining and other industries, known as the Bevin Boys, are not eligible for war disablement pensions when suffering illness or disablement as a consequence of that service.

Don Touhig: While Bevin Boys were called up and allotted National Service Registration Numbers, they were not enlisted or conscripted into HM Armed Forces. They remained civilians, mobilised to perform essential works. This being so, any illness or disablement suffered as a consequence would not have arisen as a direct result of enemy action and therefore would not fall for consideration as a war injury under the war pension scheme.

TRANSPORT

Trunk Road Closures (Compensation)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce compensation payments for traders affected by trunk road closures.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no plans to change the existing arrangements.

Climate Change

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to reduce the impact of transport on climate change.

Stephen Ladyman: We published a summary of the main measures in the December 2004 consultation paper on the Review of the UK's Climate Change Programme. As part of the Review, we are considering the scope for additional measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from all sectors, including transport.

Free Bus Travel

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of elderly and disabled people who will be entitled to free off-peak bus travel in 2006–07.

Stephen Ladyman: From April 2006, people aged 60 and over and disabled people will be entitled to free off-peak travel on their local bus services in England. This will benefit around 11 million people.

Aviation Policy

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding aviation policy and its impact on climate change.

Alistair Darling: My Department and Defra keep in regular contact on aviation and climate change issues.

Railways (Punctuality)

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on punctuality levels on the railways (a) in the most recent period for which figures are available and (b) in 1997.

Derek Twigg: The moving annual average of the Public Performance Measure (PPM) for rail punctuality at 31 December 2004 was 82.8 per cent. For the year to March 1998 the moving annual average was 89.7 per cent.

Greater Manchester

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his plans for public transport in Greater Manchester.

Stephen Ladyman: Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive is responsible for transport planning in Greater Manchester. They are required to submit their provisional five-year Local Transport Plan in July and final LTP in March 2006.

Aircraft Emissions

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans the Government have to tackle aircraft emissions.

Karen Buck: holding answer 23 May 2005
	The Government's plans to tackle aircraft emissions are set out in "The Future of Air Transport" White Paper (Cm 6046).

Airline Tickets (Financial Protection)

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Department has taken to publicise exclusions to airline ticket protection provided through credit card booking; and if he will bring forward legislation to improve financial protection for UK air travellers.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has not publicised exclusions to airline ticket protection provided through credit card booking.
	The Department has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to consider a range of options for the future financial protection of air travellers and will make a decision on receipt of further advice from the Authority.

Airline Tickets (Financial Protection)

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the financial protection scheme for air travellers.

Stephen Ladyman: The Air Travel Organisers' Licensing scheme (ATOL) provides financial protection for people buying package holidays. There is currently no statutory protection for people who buy air travel that is not part of a package.
	The growth in popularity of no-frills air travel has meant the proportion of holidaymakers protected by the ATOL scheme has gone down. Together with the Civil Aviation Authority we are considering a range of options in relation to this decline.

Airline Tickets (Financial Protection)

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the Civil Aviation Authority's estimate of the number of UK leisure passengers who flew without financial protection in 2004; if he will bring forward measures to address the gap in financial protection for air travellers; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: In July 2004 the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) provided advice to the Government on the current financial protection arrangements for holidaymakers. In response, the Government asked the Authority to carry out further work on a range of options, including an assessment of the likely regulatory impacts. We will decide on next steps upon analysis of the CAA's further advice.

Civil Aviation Authority Study

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish his response to the Civil Aviation Authority fifth freedoms study.

Karen Buck: The Civil Aviation Authority completed its consultation on this study on 13 May, and we expect that it will submit the final version of the study to the Department shortly. The response will follow in due course after we have carefully considered the content of the study.

Crossrail

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) priority and (b) funding his Department has committed to Crossrail.

Derek Twigg: The Department attaches a very high priority to Crossrail. That is why we introduced a hybrid Bill for the project in February 2005, and reintroduced it on 18 May.
	The Government remain equally committed to finding an equitable funding package for Crossrail. We will bring forward funding proposals during the passage of the Bill.

M1 Motorway

Mr. Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the fencing being erected north of junction 11 alongside the southbound carriageways of the M1 motorway are not being set back to allow for future planned widening to take place.

Stephen Ladyman: While the Government have announced their intention to widen the M1 in this area, the plans are still at an early stage, requiring land outside the current boundary.
	The fencing at junction 11 is being erected inside the highway boundary to give the residents of Luton relief from severe noise problems. The construction of the fence allows the infill panel to be re-used at a later date, should the widening scheme proceed.

Motorbike Noise

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on maximum noise levels from motor-powered two-wheeled vehicles.

Stephen Ladyman: Under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 and the Motor Cycles etc. (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1999, motor powered two wheeled vehicles must be constructed to meet the following maximum noise levels (dB(A)) when subjected to a drive-by noise test.
	
		
			 Date of first use Mopeds Motor cycles 
		
		
			 Pre 1 April 1983 No requirement No requirement 
			
			  1 April 1983 to  1/2  Up to 80cc=79dB(A) 81–125cc=81dB(A) 
			 31 March 1991 74dB(A) 126–350cc=84dB(A) 
			  1/2  351–500cc=86dB(A) 
			   Over 500cc=87dB(A) 
			
			 1 April 1991 to  Up to 80cc=78dB(A) 
			 16 June 2003 75dB(A) 81–175cc=80dB(A) 
			   Over 175cc=83dB(A) 
			
			  Up to 25km/h=66dB(A) Up to 80cc=75dB(A) 
			 From 17 June 2003 Over 25km/h=71dB(A) 81–175cc=77dB(A) 
			   Over 175cc=80dB(A) 
		
	
	Measures are also in place to ensure that these standards are maintained as far as possible in service by ensuring that inappropriate after-market/replacement silencers that would make motorcycles significantly noisier should not be sold or fitted and by enforcement of such measures at MOT, at the roadside and at point of sale.

New Road Routes

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list areas where studies are being undertaken on sites of (a) historical, (b) environmental and (c) archaeological importance that are being considered as possible new motorway and trunk road routes.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 23 May 2005
	The Highways Agency undertakes environmental impact assessment studies for all proposed new motorway and all-purpose trunk road schemes. All sites of historical, environmental and archaeological importance that may be affected by route options will be subject to an appropriate level of assessment. The areas where these assessment studies are being undertaken are those associated with the Targeted Programme of Improvements listed at Appendix 5 in the Highways Agency's Business Plan 2005–06 which is available in the House of Commons Library.

Road Construction Costs

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average cost is of constructing a mile of (a) motorway and (b) trunk road.

Stephen Ladyman: The average cost of building one mile of new (a) motorway: £23 million per mile (b) Dual lane carriageway: £12 million per mile. In considering the cost of a new road there is a vast array of variables, not least the difference between urban or rural areas, new route or existing network. Factors such as quality of land, site geology, drainage, environmental mitigation, traffic management or restricted access can all have a large impact on cost.

Road Tolls

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to introduce (a) further toll motorways and (b) tolls on other major roads.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 23 May 2005
	Last summer's consultation exercise, "M6: giving motorists a choice" sought views on whether the Department should develop the option of an M6 Expressway between Birmingham and Manchester as an alternative to the current option to widen the M6 between junctions 11a and 19. The Government are considering the response to the consultation and will respond in due course.
	The Government are introducing a Lorry Road User Charge (LRUC) to ensure that all hauliers, regardless of nationality, pay their fair share towards the costs they impose in the UK. Responsibility for implementing LRUC has been laid to HM Revenue and Customs.
	In line with their manifesto commitment, the Government are examining the potential of moving away from the current system of motoring taxation towards a national system of road pricing.

CABINET OFFICE

E-government

Anne Begg: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will take steps to provide a single point for citizens to register change of details with all Government agencies through the e-government system.

Mr. Murphy: The Cabinet Office offered an online 'change of address' service for Government some years ago. The service was not popular and was discontinued.
	However much has changed in the way people use online services since then and the underlying principle that responsible citizens should only have to tell us changes once is a good one.
	We shall explore that in the Cabinet Office led work on service delivery within the "Connecting the UK: the Digital Strategy" initiative announced in March.

E-democracy

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what part the Strategy Unit has played in advancing e-democracy.

Mr. Murphy: The Strategy Unit has not undertaken any work on e-democracy. The e-Government Unit in the Cabinet Office was taking this work forward, however, responsibility has now transferred to the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Better Regulation Task Force

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has for ensuring that the Better Regulation Task Force becomes more effective.

John Hutton: The Better Regulation Task Force is already an extremely effective champion of better regulation and we have made a commitment to build on this further.
	We plan to put the Task Force on a permanent footing and give it additional responsibilities, including providing independent scrutiny of departmental plans for simplification, in becoming the Better Regulation Commission.

Civil Servants

John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list civil servants seconded to European Union (a) institutions and (b) working committees, broken down by post occupied; and what the appointment criteria were in each case.

John Hutton: 118 UK civil servants are seconded to the European institutions as "Seconded National Experts" as at 23 May 2005. This figure is subject to change. The distribution of these secondees in the European Union is shown in the following table.
	Selection by the institution is generally on the basis of presentation of a curriculum vitae for each candidate, usually followed by interviews, based on the requirements of each vacancy. UK Departments will submit details of only those civil servants whom they consider suitable for the posts and who will enhance their expertise during the secondment to the longer-term benefit of the Department or civil service as a whole.
	At any time a further 10 to 14 UK civil servants are on short-term traineeships ("stages") to the European Commission. Other UK civil servants may visit the Commission for short-term work experience visits but these would not be centrally recorded.
	The majority of UK staff who sit on Council or Commission working groups or management committees are serving UK civil servants, employed in the UK permanent representation to the European Union in Brussels or working in UK Departments and travelling to Brussels or Luxembourg for meetings.
	
		
			 Institution/area of work or Directorate-General Number of secondees 
		
		
			 European Commission  
			 DG Agriculture and Rural Development 2 
			 DG Competition 5 
			 DG Development 5 
			 Humanitarian Aid Office 1 
			 DG Economic and Financial Affairs 5 
			 DG Education and Culture 2 
			 DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities 7 
			 DG Transport and Energy 6 
			 DG Enlargement 2 
			 DG Enterprise and Energy 3 
			 DG Environment 6 
			 EuropeAid(Co-operation Office 4 
			 Eurostat 3 
			 DG External Relations 10 
			 DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs 1 
			 DG Health and Consumer Protection 8 
			 DG Information Society and Media 1 
			 DG Internal Market and Services 8 
			 Joint Research Centre 2 
			 DG Justice Freedom and Security 4 
			 Legal Service 1 
			 DG Personnel and Administration 1 
			 DG Regional Policy 3 
			 DG Research 3 
			 DG Taxation and Customs Union 7 
			 DG Trade 7 
			 Secretariat General 1 
			 European Commission total 108 
			   
			 Council of Ministers  
			 General Secretariat 1 
			 Data Protection Secretariat 1 
			 Private Office 1 
			 External Economic Relations 1 
			 CUEMC(Euro Military Staff Council Secretariat 1 
			 Council of Ministers total 5 
			   
			 European Maritime Safety Agency 3 
			 European Parliament/Budgetary Control Committee 1 
			 European Parliament/Internal Policies 1 
			 Overall total 118

Interchange Scheme

David Kidney: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment he has made of the operation of the Interchange scheme for providing broader work experience for local government staff.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	Interchange opportunities between staff in local and central Government are arranged by individual Departments.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister currently has 10 members of staff on secondment to local authorities and 26 local authority staff working in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on secondment in areas including Housing, Homelessness, Social Exclusion, Local Government Legislation, Urban Policy Unit, and Local Government Strategy Unit. Such opportunities provide useful development and training opportunities for individuals to develop new skills and new ways of working and for organisations to benefit from the exchange of new ideas and ways of working. An evaluation process is in place to assess the benefits of each secondment.
	It is however for the local authorities to develop their own interchange policy and make decisions on the number of their staff they can release on secondments. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no input into these policies.

Ministerial Fleet

John Hayes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many vehicles there are in the ministerial fleet, broken down by type; how many have a chauffeur; what greener fuel alternatives have been studied; and what the running costs of the fleet were in each of the last five years.

Mr. Murphy: The responsibility for the provision of ministerial cars and drivers has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive Mr. Roy Burke to write to the hon. Member. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to (a) Mehwish Saeed, dated 7 March, (b) Mrs Z. Kanum, dated 3 March and (c) Mr. M R Sufi, dated 7 February.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied to my right hon. Friend's letters with regard to Mehwish Saeed and Mrs. Z Kanum on 15 March and 14 March respectively.
	My right hon. Friend will reply to my right hon. Friend's letter with regard to Mr. M R Sufi shortly.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 3 March with regard to the Manchester Muslim Funeral Committee.

Kim Howells: We have no record of having received this letter. UKvisas has requested a copy from the office of my right hon. Friend. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will reply to him as soon as possible, once a copy of the letter is received.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to (a) Mrs. K. Akhtar, dated 30 March, (b) Hina Khalid, dated 20 January and (c) Mr. T. Iqbal, dated 18 January.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied to my right hon. Friend's letters on 14 April, 1 April and 6 April respectively.

Egypt

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to support the development of democratic elections in Egypt.

Kim Howells: We fully support the development of democratic elections in Egypt and welcome President Mubarak's proposal on 28 February to change the Egyptian constitution, with the stated aim of enabling direct election of the President from multiple candidates. On 12 May, the People's Assembly voted in favour of the amendment.
	The UK, through our Embassy in Cairo, works closely with Egypt to promote political reform including, for example, through training on election reporting in the media. We are also encouraging the European Union to focus more on supporting democracy, governance and human rights in Egypt.

Guantanamo Bay

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the US authorities in relation to (a) prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay having access to people and texts appropriate to their faith and (b) the appropriate treatment of religious representatives and texts at Guantanamo Bay.

Ian Pearson: We have expressed our concern to the US authorities about the conditions of detention at Guantanamo Bay on many occasions. British officials conducting welfare visits to the British detainees made inquiries about the detainees' freedom to practise their religion.
	We understand that detainees are given copies of the Koran, prayer mats and Halal food, and that prayer calls are made throughout the camp.

India

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit India.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary hopes to visit India again before long. As is normal practice, his next visit will not be announced until the dates for it are firm.

Lebanon

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring the UK has undertaken (a) directly and (b) through the UN of the impact of the withdrawal of Syrian forces from the Lebanon.

Kim Howells: Our Embassies in Beirut and Damascus are observing the extent and impact of the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.
	The UK has supported the decision of the United Nations Secretary General to deploy a UN mission made up of military experts to verify whether there has been a full and complete withdrawal of all Syrian troops and military assets and intelligence apparatus from Lebanon. We are pleased to have seconded a British Army Colonel to act as second-in-command of this mission. We understand that the mission will be producing its report later this month.

Lebanon

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent Israeli attacks on Lebanese border villages.

Kim Howells: We are aware of a number of exchanges of fire on the Blue Line earlier this month. We understand that during these exchanges of fire, some Israeli artillery landed on the Lebanese side of the Blue Line, although Lebanese villages were not hit. On 13 May the Israeli Defence Force attacked Hizballah positions in southern Lebanon following a missile attack from Lebanon on the northern Israeli town of Shlomi and mortar and missile attacks on the area of Har Dov/Sheba'a Farms. We understand that the missile and mortar attacks were in response to Israeli overflights of Lebanese territory.
	We are concerned about these infringements of the Blue Line and welcome the statements by the United Nations Secretary General on 10, 13 and 16 May expressing his own concern and calling for all parties to show restraint. We reiterate those sentiments and call on all parties to abide by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1310 and other relevant UN resolutions. In this sensitive political time in Lebanon it is irresponsible for any party to heighten tension along the Blue Line.

MI6 (Decision Notification)

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what circumstances MI6 may decide that major decisions it takes need not be communicated to him; and what mechanism exists to ensure such decisions are in the public interest.

Jack Straw: The Intelligence Services Act 1994 requires the explicit authority of the Secretary of State in respect of a wide range of major operations of the Secret Intelligence Service. There are therefore no circumstances in which major decisions by the Secret Intelligence Service would not be submitted to me or one of my Cabinet colleagues for approval, or of which I, or they, are not otherwise informed.

Nepal

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will make immediate funding available for the human rights monitoring commission referred to in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Nepal and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights to start work.

Kim Howells: The UK attaches great importance to improving the human rights situation in Nepal. Our expenditure plan for the Financial Year 2005–06 includes an allocation of approximately £80,000 for the support of various human rights groups in Nepal and £75,000 on human rights training support. We were closely involved in efforts to secure Nepalese agreement to international human rights monitoring in Nepal under the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). We are keen in principle to offer financial support to the OHCHR office and are currently exploring suitable sources of funding.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Government of Sudan on behalf of Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam.

Ian Pearson: Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a prominent Sudanese human rights activist, was detained in Khartoum on 8 May along with two colleagues, Mr. Yasir Saleem and Mr. Abdallah Taha. Mr. Abdallah was released without charge on 11 May. Dr. Mudawi and Mr. Yasir were subsequently charged under articles 53 (Espionage against the Country) and 57 (Entering and Photographing Military Areas and Works). Mr. Yasir was released unharmed on 12 May. Dr. Mudawi was released unharmed on 17 May.
	Our embassy in Khartoum raised this case with the acting Foreign Minister on 10 May and on 14 May. We also supported representations made by the local EU presidency on this matter.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will estimate how many deaths have occurred in Darfur in the last 18 months.

Ian Pearson: Estimates of deaths in Darfur since the crisis began vary from 70,000 to 300,000 and above. Accurate figures are not available and better data are needed. The UK is funding the World Health Organisation to conduct a new mortality survey, and preliminary results are expected by mid-June. This will only give a snapshot of the situation; we have to accept that, given the complexities on the ground, we are unlikely ever to get a full picture of deaths from this conflict.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sudan about the aerial bombardment of parts of Darfur.

Ian Pearson: We have made regular representations to the Government of Sudan regarding aerial bombardment in Darfur. In early February the Government of Sudan announced that they would remove their Antonov aircraft from Darfur and refrain from hostile use of aircraft there. Both my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) pressed the Sudanese Minister for Foreign Affairs on this issue when they met on 10 February, and received the same assurances. The Antonovs appear to have been withdrawn. Although helicopter gunships remain in Darfur, the UN Secretary General has concluded in his monthly reports that there has been no further hostile use of aircraft since January.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he will make available to the International Criminal Court investigation into Darfur.

Kim Howells: At the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC), we currently share background material to help the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) become better attuned to the political situation in the region.
	We are also negotiating with the OTP an agreement to allow the provision of any material that may be useful to investigative work.
	The UK is fully committed to supporting the ICC and is engaged in dialogue with the Court at official level to consider ways of providing effective practical support.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to encourage the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement to attend peace talks about Darfur.

Ian Pearson: We are in regular contact with both the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM—the political arm of the Sudanese Liberation Army) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and have consistently encouraged them to return to peace talks about Darfur. The SLM and JEM have now announced that they will attend a new round of peace talks with the Government. A recent regional Heads of State meeting on Darfur, held in Libya on 16–17 May, announced that the talks would restart in Abuja by the end of May. A UK representative will attend the talks and offer support to the African Union mediators.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary-General of the UN on the replacement of the current head of MINURSO in the Western Sahara.

Kim Howells: The appointment of a successor for Alvaro de Soto, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Western Sahara, is a matter for the Secretary-General alone. He has our full support in the nomination process.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to change travel advice relating to Yemen.

Kim Howells: We have no immediate plans to change the travel advice for Yemen. However, the advice, available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk, is kept under constant review. It is checked routinely and following any significant incident and, at a minimum, is revised and re-issued at least once every three months.

Zimbabwe

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to promote democracy in Zimbabwe.

Ian Pearson: Our aim remains the early restoration of democratic governance, human rights and the rule of law to Zimbabwe.
	We have worked with the international community to that end, isolating Mugabe and imposing sanctions, and will continue to support all those in Zimbabwe working for peaceful democratic change.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Border Inspection Posts

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the deletion of South Shields from designated border inspection posts under Commission Decision 2005/102/EC of OJ L33 of 5 February.

Ben Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
	There was no border inspection post (BIP) at South Shields.
	There was a BIP at North Shields (listed as Tyne-Northshields) which was removed from the list of approved BIPs by Commission Decision 2005/102/EC. Defra suspended the operation of the BIP at North Shields on 26 June 2003 as it did not comply with the requirements to operate under EU law. The operators elected not to invest further to bring it up to the required standard.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to (a) Mr. Hassan Nadir Rashid, dated 4 April and (b) Mr. H. Riaz, dated 7 April.

Mr. Clarke: The information is as follows:
	(a) I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 May 2005.
	(b) I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 May 2005.

Correspondence

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department will reply to the letters sent on 17 December 2004 and 20 January 2005 concerning Mr. Salamat Khan, Home Office reference S774861/4.

Tony McNulty: I wrote to my hon. Friend on 23 May.

Hashem Adbul-Aziz Barwari

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when Hashem Abdul-Aziz Barwari, reference B11 02376, will receive his clearance papers.

Tony McNulty: Mr. Barwari's application for further leave to remain has not yet been dealt with. The Immigration and Nationality Directorate will write to his representatives in due course to ask if he wishes to attend an interview or whether he wishes his application considered on the information already available.

Marriage Applications

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many marriage applications there have been in the UK in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many marriage applications there were in each register office in the UK in each month since May 1997.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Davis, dated 24 May 2005
	As Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary Questions on marriage applications. (299 and 300)
	I am placing in the House of Commons Library a table showing the available information. It gives the numbers of intended marriages taken in each local authority in England and Wales for 1998–1999 to 2003–2004. Comparable data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	From 1 January 2001, both the bride and groom had to give notice. Prior to then, couples who lived in the same registration district gave one notice. Figures exclude marriages in an Anglican Church where notice of marriage is given after banns.
	
		Number of intended marriages taken in each local authority in England and Wales 1998–99 to 2003–04
		
			 Local authority 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 720 737 872 1568 2,004 2,171 
			 Barnet 1,578 1,560 1,820 3,580 3,809 4,055 
			 Barnsley 858 852 1,097 1,678 1,721 1,752 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 654 657 812 1,266 1,347 1,380 
			 Bedfordshire 1,571 1,481 1,983 3,170 3,394 3,535 
			 Bexley 920 933 1,156 1,814 1,938 2,007 
			 Birmingham 3,721 3,615 4,291 7,201 8,098 7,861 
			 Blackburn-with-Darwen 650 601 664 1,102 1,130 1,259 
			 Blackpool 689 655 766 1,226 1,249 1,436 
			 Blaenau 260 262 263 384 431 513 
			 Bolton 1,094 1,109 1,266 2,108 2,287 2,390 
			 Bournemouth 799 796 951 1,589 1,720 1,746 
			 Bracknell Forest 505 431 597 911 1,024 1,078 
			 Bradford 1,712 1,662 2,045 3,397 3,494 3,575 
			 Brent 1,328 1,286 2,014 4,104 4,474 4,460 
			 Bridgend 499 505 605 960 1,093 1,141 
			 Brighton and Hove 1,134 1,054 1,630 2,687 2,611 2,865 
			 Bristol 1,755 1,767 2,152 3,497 3,878 3,967 
			 Bromley 1,255 1,320 1,422 2,383 2,621 2,607 
			 Buckinghamshire 1,750 1,660 1,980 3,319 3,473 3,788 
			 Bury 778 821 865 1,413 1,485 1,673 
			 Caerphilly 675 702 803 1,281 1,391 1,451 
			 Calderdale 765 758 858 1,399 1,497 1,605 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,059 2,067 2,583 4,309 4,603 4,731 
			 Camden 1,036 1,049 1,297 2,587 2,850 3,075 
			 Cardiff 1,279 1,317 1,486 2,216 2,496 2,662 
			 Carmarthenshire 607 616 630 1,064 1,190 1,138 
			 Ceredigion 218 177 220 361 444 446 
			 Cheshire 2,773 2,725 3,071 5,205 5,406 5,466 
			 City of Westminster 883 975 1450 3,111 3,047 3,259 
			 Conwy 416 388 470 777 755 822 
			 Cornwall 1,837 1,907 2,376 3,802 4,071 4,307 
			 Coventry 1,211 1,264 1,629 2,524 2,386 2,647 
			 Croydon 1,469 1,408 1,766 3,194 3,328 3,522 
			 Cumbria 1,602 1,626 1,966 3,245 3,341 3,570 
			 Darlington 451 441 510 796 812 868 
			 Denbighshire 287 307 332 560 605 626 
			 Derby 1,097 1,063 1,203 2,008 1,896 2,037 
			 Derbyshire 2,735 2,848 3,262 5,296 5,697 5,986 
			 Devon 2,558 2,551 3,087 4,971 5,437 5,818 
			 Doncaster 1,183 1,225 1,487 2,236 2,263 2,644 
			 Dorset 1,345 1,360 1,631 2,625 2,749 3,101 
			 Dudley 1,142 1,167 1,323 2,028 2,327 2,225 
			 Durham 1,901 1,893 2,090 3,576 3,576 3,931 
			 Ealing 1,601 1,540 2,098 3,878 3,923 4,155 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,007 1,012 1,290 2,030 2,160 2,422 
			 East Sussex 1,925 1,987 2,411 4,061 4,324 4,257 
			 Enfield 254 1,322 1,565 3,033 3,116 3,333 
			 Essex 4,844 4,919 5,938 10,044 10,888 11,218 
			 Flintshire 624 517 732 1,161 1,193 1,241 
			 Gateshead 797 834 943 1,476 1,473 1,578 
			 Gloucestershire 2,072 2,132 2,524 4,204 4,433 4,686 
			 Greenwich 1,074 987 1,215 2,218 2,419 2,855 
			 Gwynedd 388 360 427 673 716 748 
			 Hackney 1,188 1,119 1,442 2,923 3,479 3,437 
			 Halton 561 492 579 979 928 1,011 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 881 851 1,147 2,207 2,417 2,472 
			 Hampshire 4,937 4,937 5,923 10,094 10,433 10,560 
			 Haringey 1,422 1,408 2001 3,857 4,544 4,932 
			 Harrow 871 907 1,040 1,873 2,072 2,005 
			 Hartlepool 381 354 416 688 696 675 
			 Havering 858 844 936 1,578 1,666 1,792 
			 Herefordshire 600 552 678 1,084 1,130 1,221 
			 Hertfordshire 4406 4,386 5,169 8,717 9,241 9,577 
			 Hillingdon 1,043 1,075 1,272 2,190 2,079 2,233 
			 Hounslow 1,062 1,102 1,528 2,550 2,803 2,878 
			 Isle of Anglesey 200 226 254 367 461 385 
			 Isle of Wight 501 498 591 924 1,086 1,051 
			 Isles of Scilly 6 7 6 18 20 13 
			 Islington 916 947 1,217 2,308 2,559 2,541 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 731 674 970 1,887 1,931 1,933 
			 Kent 4,934 4,874 6,017 9,498 10,516 11,206 
			 Kingston Upon Hull 1,109 1,106 1,231 2,105 2,281 2,377 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 710 680 859 1,327 1,380 1,546 
			 Kirklees 1,556 1,576 1,937 3,097 3,195 3,343 
			 Knowsley 531 546 605 881 886 1,009 
			 Lambeth 1,611 1,606 2,232 4,299 4,883 1,836 
			 Lancashire 4,404 4,583 5,185 8,329 8,922 9,527 
			 Leeds 2,781 2,802 3,361 5,436 5,741 6,191 
			 Leicester 1,245 1,169 1,604 2,791 2,808 2,864 
			 Leicestershire 2,194 2,171 2,543 4,150 4,596 4,591 
			 Lewisham 1,232 1,258 1,623 3,465 3,523 3,957 
			 Lincolnshire 2,074 2,124 2,633 4,301 5,017 5,116 
			 Liverpool 1,517 1,472 1,651 2,651 2,889 2,899 
			 London Corporation 45 35 33 64 71 70 
			 Luton 732 726 874 1,650 1,664 1,983 
			 Manchester 1,679 1,608 2,015 3,273 3,616 4,001 
			 Medway 1,197 1,108 1,512 2,032 2,508 2,508 
			 Merthyr Tydfil 210 198 275 464 442 387 
			 Merton 918 881 1,209 1,991 2,059 2,387 
			 Middlesbrough 571 544 622 1,014 966 1,037 
			 Milton Keynes 981 1,008 1,179 2,194 2,275 2,509 
			 Monmouthshire 289 271 302 560 581 646 
			 Neath Port Talbot 487 473 530 816 1,079 1,072 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 1,056 1,011 1,207 1,852 1,970 2,025 
			 Newham 1,297 1,262 1,569 3,139 3,498 3,401 
			 Newport 530 529 576 945 1,124 1,129 
			 Norfolk 2,988 3,058 3,637 6,284 6,476 6,750 
			 North East Lincolnshire 637 614 707 1,148 1,281 1,296 
			 North Lincolnshire 506 606 628 1,027 1,061 1,251 
			 North Somerset 688 676 775 1,332 1,567 1,533 
			 North Tyneside 843 852 1,084 1,445 1,704 1,837 
			 North Yorkshire 2,033 2,179 2,443 4,047 4,429 4,329 
			 Northamptonshire 2,738 2,184 3,318 5,340 5,941 6,273 
			 Northumberland 1,177 1,152 1,347 1,997 2,170 2,368 
			 Nottingham 1,117 1,146 1,355 2,255 2,447 2,593 
			 Nottinghamshire 2,637 2,660 3,274 5,123 5,680 5,846 
			 Oldham 822 790 965 1,479 1,641 1,618 
			 Oxfordshire 2,403 2,259 3,094 5,114 5,407 5,733 
			 Pembrokeshire 366 328 398 693 738 756 
			 Peterborough 689 792 960 1,571 1,706 1,730 
			 Plymouth 1,106 1,148 1,366 2,312 2,495 2,399 
			 Poole 669 598 785 1,239 1,277 1,355 
			 Portsmouth 960 984 1,142 1,974 2,153 2,201 
			 Powys 363 345 377 634 710 794 
			 Reading 739 756 936 1,607 1,769 1,819 
			 Redbridge 1,148 1,132 1,294 2,417 2,327 2,497 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 526 531 628 974 880 1,029 
			 Rhonddacynontaf 837 791 940 1,539 1,562 1,751 
			 Richmond upon Thames 806 822 1,028 1,783 1,881 1,894 
			 Rochdale 864 845 933 1,488 1,570 1,763 
			 Rotherham 892 857 1,033 1,589 1,781 1,947 
			 Rutland 133 102 128 226 264 260 
			 Salford 992 898 1,138 1,747 1,693 1,901 
			 Sandwell 1,216 1,234 1,330 2,284 2,565 2,493 
			 Sefton 1,071 987 1,133 1,725 1,837 1,952 
			 Sheffield 1,753 1,833 2,247 3,566 3,718 3,778 
			 Shropshire 917 908 1,069 1,712 2,082 2,018 
			 Slough 609 575 778 103 1,443 1,526 
			 Solihull 679 700 728 1,100 1,182 1,344 
			 Somerset 1,780 1,784 2,219 3,494 3,815 3,784 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,032 974 1,223 1,957 2,020 2,239 
			 South Tyneside 560 568 668 954 1,133 1,109 
			 Southampton 997 983 1,312 2,023 2,213 2,190 
			 Southend-on-Sea 801 792 864 1,537 1,621 1,702 
			 Southwark 1,440 1,368 1,825 3,098 4,170 4,283 
			 St. Helens 682 668 798 1,184 1,148 1,462 
			 Staffordshire 2,910 2,943 3,451 5,577 6,063 6,419 
			 Stockport 1,179 1,135 1,388 2037 2249 2337 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 770 743 862 1,331 1,385 1,523 
			 Stoke on Trent 1,091 1,021 1,154 1,820 2,097 2,155 
			 Suffolk 2,748 2,587 3,035 5,060 5,365 5,851 
			 Sunderland 995 1,101 1,248 1,880 2,054 2,199 
			 Surrey 4,282 4,245 5,201 8,395 8,677 8,894 
			 Sutton 883 876 1,098 1,599 1,707 1,715 
			 Swansea 792 740 887 1,521 1,569 1,627 
			 Swindon 869 890 1,146 1,670 1,839 1,988 
			 Tameside 1,002 896 1,051 1,595 1,754 1,746 
			 Telford and Wrekin 670 637 814 1,252 1,383 1,667 
			 The Vale of Glamorgan 501 480 559 860 926 973 
			 Thurrock 648 609 765 1,238 1,313 1,435 
			 Torbay 536 591 768 1,058 1,221 1,271 
			 Torfaen 371 341 390 726 648 658 
			 Tower Hamlets 759 744 1,121 2,348 2,652 2,848 
			 Trafford 951 904 1,070 1,729 1,760 1,897 
			 Wakefield 1,260 1,285 1,625 2,444 2,721 2,904 
			 Walsall 984 999 1,046 1,763 1,678 1,836 
			 Waltham Forest 999 1,046 1,429 2,807 3,081 3,122 
			 Wandsworth 1,502 1,513 2,151 3,813 4,145 4,553 
			 Warrington 788 764 897 1,433 1,565 1,593 
			 Warwickshire 1,944 2,007 2341 3807 3898 4148 
			 West Berkshire 572 561 683 1,122 1,303 1,296 
			 West Sussex 3,044 3,134 3,703 6,116 6,328 6,593 
			 Wigan 1,245 1,297 1,437 2,314 2,365 2,637 
			 Wiltshire 1,679 1,394 2026 3,361 3,593 3,597 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 565 543 713 1,131 1,174 1,196 
			 Wirral 1,221 1,205 1,480 2,361 2,383 2,538 
			 Wokingham 579 574 701 1,204 1,138 1,237 
			 Wolverhampton 937 1,066 1,118 1,771 1,994 2,045 
			 Worcestershire 2,049 2,011 1,987 3,701 4,277 4,193 
			 Wrexham 437 468 505 896 805 908 
			 York 856 766 956 1,590 1,649 1,697 
			 Total 210,633 209,803 255,190 424,325 456,444 474,721

Visa Applications

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what stage the visa applications for (a) Bukola Fakeye, reference F1054346 and (b) Lucky Osadolor, reference B1127338 have reached; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 May 2005
	The Home Office wrote to Miss Bukola Fakeye's legal representatives, Duncan Lewis and Co Solicitors, on the 19 May 2005 asking for additional evidence in order to assist them in reaching a final decision on Miss Fayeke's applications for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. The Home Office have asked that the evidence be submitted by 6 June 2005. It is therefore anticipated that the Home Office will be in a position to reach a final decision in this case by the end of June 2005.
	Inquiries into Mr. Osadolor's case have been concluded and we will shortly be writing to his representatives to let him know the outcome.

HEALTH

Breast Cancer

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the results of trials published in The Lancet on detection rates for breast cancer by MRI scan and mammogram; and if her Department will take steps to ensure that all at-risk women under 50 are offered MRI scans.

Ms Winterton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on familial breast cancer was published in May 2004. NICE has committed to reviewing this guidance when the results of the magnetic resonance imaging for breast screening (MARIBS) and other magnetic resonance imaging studies become available.
	NICE's clinical guidelines bring clarity to complex areas of diagnosis and care by providing recommendations for good practice that are based on the best available evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness. Clinicians are expected to take full account of these guidelines.

Dental Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department has taken to (a) retain and (b) recruit dental practitioners who register new NHS patients in the constituency of Leeds, north-west; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Leeds north-west primary care trust (PCT) has received £96,000 capital funding, which is being utilised through the PCTs dental incentive scheme, to ensure that the current level of commitment of local dentists to the national health service is maintained. This funding supports general dental practitioners in ensuring patient safety and improving practice premises, in particular replacing dental chairs with modern equipment.
	A further £42,000 revenue funding has been received by the PCT, which will be partly utilised to provide three extra NHS dental sessions a week, enabling an additional 12 patients a week to receive treatment. This locality-based access scheme will provide urgent and routine treatment sessions for non-registered NHS patients in the area.
	In April 2005, the PCT had six general dental practices working under personal dental services (PDS) arrangements. These practices have successfully secured an additional £221,000 to increase the workforce, benefiting an additional 1,355 new patients and enabling the re-registration of approximately 2,500 NHS patients.
	The PCT took part in the recent West Yorkshire international dental recruitment campaign and successfully supported a local practice to recruit a Polish dentist commencing in August 2005. The PCT is also working with local general dental practitioners to explore other avenues of recruitment to existing vacancies.

Drug Addicts

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many drug addicts were being treated by GPs in (a) Bassetlaw and (b) England on the latest date for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 23 May 2005
	Information on the number being treated in Bassetlaw is not available centrally.
	The numbers in drug treatment in England in 2003–04, the latest year for which published figures are available, was 154,000.

Food Poisoning

Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were recorded as suffering from food poisoning in each of the last five years; what the main causes were; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The number of notified cases of food poisoning in England and Wales reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) each year since 2000 is shown in table one. Total notifications have shown a decrease since 2000.
	
		Table 1: Annual corrected food poisoning notifications, England and Wales 2000–04(2)
		
			  Formally notified Otherwise ascertained(3) Total 
		
		
			 2000 46,481 40,047 86,528 
			 2001 46,768 38,700 85,468 
			 2002 38,541 34,108 72,649 
			 2003 35,211 35,821 71,032 
			 2004(2) 34,070 36,379 70,449 
			 Total 201,071 185,055 386,126 
		
	
	(2) Provisional data
	(3) Includes port health authorities
	Source:
	Health Protection Agency.
	The main causes of food poisoning are often unknown, as food poisoning is a diagnosis based on clinical suspicion rather than laboratory confirmation. Notified cases of food poisoning are not considered to be a reliable indicator of food-borne disease due to considerable under-reporting. Very few notified cases will be based on evidence supporting a suspected association with food.
	The HPA has estimated that, in 2000, there may have been as many as 1.3 million cases of food-borne disease acquired in England and Wales, of which around 370,000 consulted a doctor. In that year, only 86,528 cases of food poisoning were notified.
	Recent research undertaken by the HPA suggests that Campylobacter and Salmonella are the major causes of food-borne disease in England and Wales 1 . The annual totals for UK-acquired laboratory-confirmed cases of these pathogens in England and Wales are shown in table two.
	1 GK Adak, SM Long, SJ O'Brien—Trends in indigenous food-borne disease and deaths in England and Wales1992–2000. Gut 2002, 51: 832–841.
	
		Table 2: Number of laboratory-confirmed cases of UK-acquired Campylobacter and Salmonella infection; England and Wales 2000–04(4)
		
			  Campylobacter(5) Salmonella(5) 
		
		
			 2000 43,815 11,500 
			 2001 44,368 12,951 
			 2002 37,316 11,691 
			 2003 36,204 12,245 
			 2004(4) 33,384 10,551 
			 Total 195,087 58,938 
		
	
	(4) Provisional data.
	(5) Faecal and lower gastrointestinal tract isolates.
	Source:
	Health Protection Agency.
	Final figures for 2003 show a 17 per cent. decrease in the number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection compared with figures for 2000. Data for 2004 suggest a further decrease but these figures are provisional and may be subject to change during the course of 2005. The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella infection in 2003 remain virtually unchanged compared with the figure for 2000. Provisional data for 2004 suggest a decrease in laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella in England and Wales. These declines in laboratory-confirmed cases of Campylobacter and Salmonella are also reflected in food poisoning notifications, which show a 19 per cent. decrease over the same time-period (2000–04).

Food Supplements Directive

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the recent reasoned opinion of Advocate General Geelhoed that the Food Supplements Directive is invalid under EU law.

Caroline Flint: The Advocate General's opinion concluded that the Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC is invalid on the grounds that it infringes the principle of proportionality because basic principles of Community law, such as the requirements of legal protection, of legal certainty and of sound administration have not been properly taken into account. This opinion is not binding in the European Union. The European Court of Justice will make the final decision regarding the invalidity of the Directive.

Fuel Emissions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will estimate the cost to the national health service of providing treatment to patients suffering illnesses provoked partly or wholly by emissions from fuel products in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: This information is not collected directly as it is not possible to identify individual patients affected by air pollution. The link between air pollution and hospital admissions is derived from statistical correlations between daily air pollution levels and routine daily statistics on total respiratory hospital admissions. The national health service costs given as follows should be regarded only as rough estimates based on average figures.
	The Department's committee on the medical effects of air pollutants (COMEAP) estimated in 1998 1 that there were 10,500 respiratory hospital admissions (additional or brought forward) per year due to PM 1 0 (PM 1 0 refers to the mass of particles less than 10 mm in diameter per cubic metre of air) in urban areas of Great Britain. The equivalent estimate for sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) was 3,500 respiratory hospital admissions.
	Assuming that two thirds of the PM10 2 and the vast majority of SO 2 in urban areas is due directly or indirectly to fuel emissions from transport or from industry, as a rough estimate it can be assumed that up to around 10,500 respiratory hospital admissions in urban areas of Great Britain may be related to emissions from fuel products.
	The Department's ad-hoc group on the economic appraisal of the health effects of air pollution estimated in 1999 that the average cost of an emergency respiratory hospital admission was around £1,400. This gives a rough estimate of NHS costs due to emissions from fuel products of up to £14.7 million (£17.3 million in 2004 prices). This is an upper bound assuming that all respiratory hospital admissions are additional rather than simply brought forward as a result of higher air pollution days. The estimate does not include respiratory hospital admissions due to ozone 3 as an estimate of the proportion of ozone formed from fuel product precursors was not easily available. The estimate also does not include NHS costs of cardiovascular hospital admissions due to PM 1 0 or NHS costs of exacerbations of respiratory symptoms due to SO 2 or PM 1 0 .
	Further work on this issue may be considered as part of the work of the new COMEAP sub-group on quantification.
	1 Based on pollution levels in 1995–96. Pollution levels have reduced substantially since then.
	2 This includes PM 1 0 derived from transport, from industry and from Europe (itself mainly derived from transport and industry). It excludes the coarse fraction of PM 1 0 (mainly coarse dust and sea salt).
	3 The estimate also excludes hospital admissions due to nitrogen dioxide to avoid double counting with PM 1 0 .

Heatwave Plan

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether additional resources will be provided to (a) primary care trusts and (b) other NHS organisations when levels (i) 1, (ii) 2, (iii) 3 and (iv) 4 of the Heatwave Plan for England are reached;
	(2)  To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the resource requirements necessary to implement the Heatwave Plan for England.

Caroline Flint: The assessment has included an assessment of the adequacy of existing resources to do all that is necessary to implement levels 1 and 2 without diverting them from existing commitments. The resources required to implement levels 3 and 4 are a function of the length, severity and geographical spread of a heat wave.
	There will be no additional resources made available from central departmental budgets for implementation of any level of the Heatwave Plan for England, apart from those already identified to print and distribute copies of the advice leaflets and secure proper surveillance from the Meteorological Office, NHS Direct and the Health Protection Agency. Many of the actions required at level 1 and 2 are being taken anyway as part of normal care, and all of them can reasonably be thought of as essential contributions to emergency planning required by 'duty of care'.
	National health service organisations and local authorities are expected to include in their financial planning the need to fund contingencies, of which costs associated with levels 3 and 4 of the Heatwave Plan are an example, along with those arising from, for example, widespread flooding.

Mobile Roadside Cafes

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the application to mobile roadside cafés of (a) smoking and (b) health and safety regulations relating to food preparation.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 23 May 2005
	All mobile roadside cafés in which food is prepared must meet the requirements of the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995. Local authority environmental health officers will inspect these vehicles to ensure that they meet the requirements of the Regulations. Guidance on compliance with these requirements indicates that smoking in food handling areas is strictly prohibited.

Overseas Nurses

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many foreign nurses were employed in the NHS in Lancashire (a) in 1997, (b) in 2001 and (c) on the latest date for which figures are available; and what percentage of the total those numbers represents in each case.

Liam Byrne: The Department does not collect information on the country of origin of nurses recruited to the national health service.

TREASURY

Bank Charges

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will commission research into the (a) reasons for and (b) level of unavoidable miscellaneous charges made by banks, with particular reference to (i) survey fees, (ii) booking fees, (iii) arrangement fees, (iv) higher lending charge fees and (v) sealing of deeds fees; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lewis: As my hon. Friend, the former Financial Secretary (Stephen Timms), said in his answer on 18 March 2005, Official Report, column 479W, the Government have no plans to commission research into miscellaneous charges made by banks. However, following the Cruickshank Report, in pre-Budget report 2003 the Government asked the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to take on an enhanced role in relation to payment systems for a period of four years. The OFT have established the Payment Systems Task Force, which is working to resolve competition, efficiency and incentive issues relating to payment systems. The Taskforce has recently agreed that a faster payments service be introduced for telephone banking, internet banking and standing order payments, and plans to examine a number of other topics including cheques, price efficiency and access and governance of the UK's major payment schemes.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to (a) Mr. and Mrs. Tiplady dated 4 April and (b) Mr. J. H. Edwards dated 1 March.

John Healey: I replied to the right hon. Gentleman's letter concerning Mr. Edwards on 5 April and my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General will be writing to him shortly about the case of Mr. and Mrs. Tiplady.

Death Certification

Tim Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances deaths may be certified by persons who are not medically qualified; and what arrangements are made for the clinical audit of such certification, including stated cause of death.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Tim Boswell, dated 24 May 2005
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking in what circumstances deaths may be certified by persons who are not medically qualified; and what arrangements are made for the clinical audit of such certification, including stated cause of death. (66)
	Before a death can be registered in England and Wales, the cause must be certified by a doctor who attended the deceased during his or her last illness, or by a coroner. Coroners need not be medically qualified. They are required to be qualified either as doctors or as lawyers: most hold legal qualifications and some have both.
	Deaths must be referred to the coroner if:
	The cause of death is unknown
	The death was violent, or unnatural or there are suspicious circumstances
	The death 'may' be due to:
	accident
	suicide
	self-neglect
	neglect by others
	industrial disease, or the deceased's employment
	The death occurred during
	an operation, or before full recovery from an anaesthetic
	detention in police or prison custody, or shortly after release
	There is no doctor who attended the deceased available to complete the MCCD
	The deceased was not seen by the certifying doctor either after death or within 14 days before death
	Once a death has been referred, it is the responsibility of the coroner to decide what investigation is required. Coroners can only certify the cause of death for the purposes of registration if they have had a post mortem performed by a pathologist, or held an inquest, or both.
	There are no routine arrangements for clinical audit of the work of coroners.

Euro

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will next publish his assessment of the five economic tests for the UK to join the euro.

Mr. Lewis: Government policy on membership of the single currency is unchanged. It remains as set out by the Chancellor in his statement to the House of Commons in October 1997, and again in the Chancellor's statement of the Five Tests assessment in June 2003.
	Budget 2005 noted that the Government did not propose a euro assessment be initiated at the time of the Budget and that the Treasury will again review the situation at Budget time next year, as required by the Chancellor's June 2003 statement.

MRSA

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the UK have died of MRSA in NHS hospitals since 2001.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Andrew Rosindell, dated 24 May 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people in the UK have died from MRSA in NHS hospitals since 2001. (312)
	Special analysis of MRSA deaths are undertaken by the Office for National Statistics and are published annually in Health Statistics Quarterly. These are for England and Wales only. The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. Numbers of deaths where MRSA was a contributory factor in NHS general hospitals within England and Wales are given in the table below.
	
		Number of deaths in NHS general hospitals where MRSA was a contributory factor,(6) England and Wales, 2001–03(7)
		
			  Number of deaths 
		
		
			 2001 649 
			 2002 720 
			 2003 855 
		
	
	(6) Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993–2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15–22.
	(7) Figures are for deaths occurring in the years 2001 to 2003.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics

Tax Credit Overpayments

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of overpayment of tax credits involving Bassetlaw constituents are unresolved.

Dawn Primarolo: This information is not available, but statistics on overpayments will be published on 1 June 2005 under National Statistics.

Tax Credit Overpayments

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many recipients in Stroud constituency have been identified as having received over-payments of tax credits; and how many of these over-payments are due to computer software problems.

Dawn Primarolo: Statistics on overpayments will be published on 1 June 2005 under National Statistics. A breakdown of the causes of those over-payments is not available.

Tax Credit Overpayments

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the highest level of over-payment of tax credit is; and what arrangements have been put in place to recoup such over-payments without breaching Government guidelines of not putting families into hardship.

Dawn Primarolo: Information requested is not available.
	The Inland Revenue's approach to handling over-payments is set out in their Code of Practice 26 "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?"

VAT

David Kidney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce the rate of VAT charged on audio books.

Mr. Lewis: Under agreements with our European partners that govern the VAT system, we can apply a reduced VAT rate of no lower than 5 per cent. on goods and services from within a prescribed list in the Sixth VAT Directive (Annex H). There is no provision in this list for a reduced rate of VAT on audio books.

VAT

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions the Government (a) has had, (b) is having and (c) is scheduled to have with (i) the European Commission and (ii) members and representatives of EU member state Governments on adjusting VAT ratings on particular goods and services; if he will list the (A) goods and (B) services under discussion; who initiated each discussion; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Lewis: The Government holds discussions with the European Commission and other EU member states on many issues, including reduced rates of VAT.
	The Commission's review of reduced rates was adopted on 23 July 2003. Since then, a range of goods and services has been discussed, such as restaurant services, compact discs, repairs to listed places of worship, energy-saving materials for do-it-yourself installation, energy-saving products, memorials, and the labour-intensive services listed in Annex K of the Sixth VAT Directive (small repairs, house repairs, window cleaning, cleaning in private households, domestic care services, and hairdressing).

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Electoral Registration

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Government plans to require some form of identification to be shown in order to vote at a polling station.

Harriet Harman: The Government currently have no plans to require a form of identification to be shown in order to vote at a polling station, but we will consider the issue along with discussion of improvements to postal voting security.

Electoral Registration

David Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will seek to amend the law relating to electoral registration to require individual registration.

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the Government's policy is on extending the use of individual electoral registration from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom.

Harriet Harman: The Government's view on voter registration, expressed in our response to the Electoral Commission's Voting for Change report, is that while we are sympathetic to the principles of individual registration and recognise its potential benefits, we are concerned to maintain a straightforward system and comprehensive electoral registers.
	Our preferred solution is to collect the additional individual identifiers recommended by the Electoral Commission (signature and date of birth), but to do so through an adapted household form. We believe that this system will improve security in the same way as individual registration, but will reduce the risk of falling levels of registration.
	We are currently discussing this proposal with electoral administrators, the political parties and other stakeholders. If a decision is made to take this policy forward, we intend to do so through an Electoral Administration Bill, when parliamentary time allows.

Freedom of Information

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what proportions of (a) requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from (i) journalists, (ii) Members of Parliament and (iii) others and (b) written parliamentary questions tabled since 1 January 2005 have been referred to the Central Clearing House.

Harriet Harman: Since the Freedom of Information Act is requestor blind, there is no way to provide exact figures relating to the number of requests that have been referred to the Clearing House from either journalists or Members of Parliament. However, we estimate that, through self-identification of media requestors, that of the nearly 2000 cases referred to date, approximately 830 (42 per cent.) of requests have come from journalists and 130 (7 per cent.) have been from Members of Parliament.
	As written parliamentary questions are not counted as requests for information within the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, these are not referred to the Clearing House for advice. Departments are instead expected to seek guidance from their parliamentary branches as normal.

Freedom of Information

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the budget of the Central Clearing House is; how many officials work there; on what date it was established; by whom; and to whom it is responsible.

Harriet Harman: The Clearing House was established in September of 2004. It is part of the Information Rights Division in the Constitution Directorate of Department of Constitutional Affairs and is ultimately responsible to the Permanent Secretary, Alex Allan. There are currently 12 posts within the Clearing House, two of which are directly funded by Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to provide expertise on the environmental information regulations.
	The implementation costs of the Clearing House totalled approximately £196,000, while its current operational cost and budget which includes IT, staffing costs including those posts funded by DEFRA and maintenance of the central monitoring system, currently stands at £511,404 per annum.

Freedom of Information

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will place in the Library a copy of the (a) terms of reference and (b) mission statement for the Central Clearing House.

Harriet Harman: The Clearing House does not have an individual mission statement, however it sits within the Information Rights Division, part of the Constitution Directorate in Department for Constitutional Affairs. Its role is to offer advice and assistance to Whitehall Departments in dealing with information requests made under the Data Protection Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Environmental Information Regulations. It has responsibility for those requests which are particularly complex or have cross Government implications and to ensure a consistent and appropriate approach is taken in the application of the legislation.
	Its terms of reference are further defined in the Clearing House toolkit, a document produced for departmental FOI practitioners. This document is currently being revised to reflect experience over the period since the FOIA came into force. However, once this revision is complete, we will be placing copies on the DCA website, which is expected by the early summer.

Freedom of Information

Michael Connarty: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many inquiries have been made to Government Departments under the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and what estimate has been made of the number which have been refused.

Harriet Harman: We are committed to publishing a quarterly bulletin on the performance of Central Government under Freedom of Information and this will include details on the numbers of requests and rates of refusal. The information for the first bulletin is currently being validated for publication next month.
	However, in a recent trial of this monitoring system with 27 Central Government Departments and Agencies, including all Departments of State, we collected information on those requests received in the month of January. This indicated that, in the first month of implementation, 4,462 requests were received by those monitored of which only 484, or 14 per cent., of those processed were refused in full.

Judicial Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many judicial appointments the Lord Chancellor has made since 1 March; and whom he has appointed.

Harriet Harman: The Lord Chancellor has made 449 judicial appointments since 1 March 2005. A table detailing the names of those appointed, and the posts to which they were appointed to, has been placed in the Library of both Houses.

Lay Magistrates

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people applied to become lay magistrates between 1997 and 2001; and how many were accepted.

Harriet Harman: The information can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of applicants Number appointed 
		
		
			 Calendar year   
			 1997 — 1,573 
			 1998 — 1,609 
			 1999 — 1,743 
			
			 Financial year   
			 2001 5,320 1,618 
		
	
	Records of the number of people who applied to become a magistrate were not collected centrally prior to 2001.
	Figures for the number of people who were appointed in 2000 are not available. Collection of figures in 2000 changed from the calendar year to the financial year, no figures were published because of the three month gap January to March 2000.

Lay Magistrates

David Davis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the budgeted departmental expenditure is for legal aid in asylum and immigration cases for 2005–06.

Bridget Prentice: The budgeted expenditure for 2005–06 is £98 million.

Lord Chief Justice

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she will announce the name of the next Lord Chief Justice.

Harriet Harman: There is currently no vacancy in the Office of Lord Chief Justice. If in the future a vacancy does occur, the procedure will be that my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor will advise the Prime Minister, who will make a recommendation to Her Majesty. Once the Queen has approved the appointment, it will be announced by the Prime Minister's Office.

Postal Votes

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Government plans to hold an inquiry into the use of postal votes during the 2005 general election.

Harriet Harman: The Electoral Commission, under Section 5 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, has a statutory duty to report on the administration of all parliamentary general elections. We would expect their report on the 2005 general election to include analysis of the administration of postal voting, as was the case with their report on the 2001 general election.
	Additionally, information about postal votes at the 2005 general election will be included in The Electoral Commission's report on participation and turnout, to be released later in the summer.
	The Government currently have no plans for a separate inquiry into postal voting, but they will be discussing proposals for improvements to security with stakeholders.

Postal Votes

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions her Department has had with electoral returning officers on (a) electoral fraud and (b) administrative errors involving postal votes.

Harriet Harman: Throughout the general election period, we held daily discussions with representatives of electoral returning officers about the progress of the elections. An advisory board for the general election was set up in October 2004 to discuss the running of the general election.
	Members of the group included electoral administrators and we will be holding an evaluation meeting to discuss the recent election, including the experience of postal voting. We have also arranged a number of meetings with electoral administrators to discuss the postal voting security measures announced after the general election.

Postal Votes

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the petitions made to Election Commissioners concerning allegations of electoral fraud involving postal votes since 1997; and what the findings of the Election Commissioners were in each case.

Harriet Harman: A list of all petitions issued since 1997 in parliamentary, European and municipal elections is as follows. Those petitions that are recorded as "lapsed" are due to non payment of security for costs and as a result are not commonly in the public domain.
	There have been a total of 37 election petitions issued since 1997:
	Four parliamentary,
	One European and
	32 municipal.
	High Court judges, will hear trials involving a parliamentary or European petition.
	They may assign a municipal petition to be heard by a Commissioner.
	As the table of petitions indicates, there have been only two trials before a Commissioner (in the Aston and Bordesley Green Wards, Birmingham city council).
	Details of petitions are entered into two separate registers. These registers do not contain sufficient information to state which petitions specifically related to allegations of electoral fraud involving postal votes in every case.
	The brief grounds and results of petitions have been indicated in the following table.
	
		
			 Date Location Petitioner/s Respondent/s Grounds Result 
		
		
			 Parliamentary  
			 14 May1997 Dagenham Richard Henry Dawson Jack Thomas R/O negligent in that he accepted nominations from non-electors etc. Lapsed 
			 15 May 1997 Winchester Gerald Malone Mark Oaten, Lindsey Garrett Fox Quality of ballot papers rejected for want of official mark and rejected ballot papers disputed Special case 6 October 1997. Petition allowed 
			 22 May1997 North East Bedfordshire Ashley Leggett Sir Nicholas Walter Lyell QC, George Coates Sir Nicholas Walter Lyell formerly Peter Rubery Hayward prevented from standing as a candidate by interim injunction obtained by Sir Nicholas Walter Lyell QC Lapsed 
			 10 August 2001 Romford Peter Brian Thorogood Andrew Rosindell Offences contrary to s 113 (i) and (2)(b)of RPA1983 (no details given) Lapsed 
			   
			 European  
			 14 June 2004 Eastern England John James Naisbitt David Monks Various Struck out 30 July 2004 
			   
			 Local government 
			 15 September 1997 Pakenham Ward of St. Edmundsbury Lisa Francis Couper Lynn Aisbett, Valerie Ann White Votes cast for petition wrongly recorded by R/O Special case 17 October 1997. Petition allowed. Second respondent not duly elected. Petitioner should have been declared duly elected. 
			 6 May 1999 Daneside Ward of Seaham town council Steven Paul Colbon Geraldine Bleasdale, John Henry Bleasdale, James Dickinson Edwards, Toni Robson, Marion Florence Wood, James Sheenin Nomination rejected as invalid Special case 30 July 1999 Petition dismissed. Issued out of time 
			 26 May 1999 Selby central ward, Selby district council Wendy Ruth Nicholls Melanie Ann Davis, Richard Kenneth Fogden, Martin Connor Votes incorrectly counted Special case 30 July 1999. Petition allowed. Election valid. Second respondent not elected. Petitioner elected 
			 26 May 1999 Creneswater ward of Southsea parish council Simon James Cattermole Nicola Vanessa Bentley, Rubayat Rahman Choud, David Heaven, Roger James, Nick Gurney Votes incorrectly counted Special case 30 July 1999 Petition allowed. Election valid. Fourth respondent not elected. Petitioner elected. 
			 27 May 1999 Longfield ward of Dartford borough council Alistair Samuel Jordan Robert John Dunn, Albert Raymond Bassum, Jeremy Alan Kite, Christopher Shepherd Candidate disqualified for standing(did not occupy property within area for whole of previous 12 months Lapsed 
			 27 May 1999 Aston ward, Birmingham district council Gabra Miah Ahmed Iftikhar 1. Illegal practice, respondent published false statements about petition. 2. Corrupt practice, third party included unauthorised election expenses. 3. Invalid nomination of fellow candidate 11 November 1999 Commissioner application to dismiss by respondent. Allowed. Petition dismissed. Trial date vacated. 
			 27 May 1999 Parish of Baileston Ruth Marjorie Dickson Robert Charles Bailey and ors Votes incorrectly counted Special case 15 December 1999. Petition allowed. Election valid. Fifteenth respondent not elected. Tenth respondent elected. 
			 27 May 1999 Rossington West ward of Rossington parish council Barry Johnson Nicholas Dobson, Doreen Appleby and ors Votes incorrectly counted Special case 30 July 1999. Petition allowed. Election valid. Second respondent not elected. Petitioner elected. 
			 25 May 1999 Haughton East Leslie Upton David Lynotte and 8 ors Undue influence impeding free exercise of franchise by use of Cabinet Minister and ors officials to influence voters Lapsed 
			 20 April 2000 South East ward of Knighton town council in Powys Janice Geraldine Harris Angus John Gilmore, Jackie Tonge Votes incorrectly counted (some not counted) Special case 11 December 2000. Petition allowed. Election valid. First respondent not elected. Petitioner elected. 
			 20 May 2000 Parish of Bracknell ward of Bracknell town council Walter Alfred Thompson Susan Margaret Thompson, Gordon Mitchell Votes incorrectly counted Special case 25 July 2000. Petition allowed. Election valid. First respondent not elected. Petitioner elected. 
			 25 May 2000 Sparkhill ward of Birmingham city council Emily Cox, Amen Ellachi, Akhlag Ahmed, Tony King, Jagdip Rai and chief executive of Birmingham city council Personation, error, treating, bribery, undue influence overspending election expenses 25 July 2000 Application to strike out on grounds of late service of petition. Dismissed 
			 25 May 2000 Nicholls ward, Birmingham city council Abdul Malik Mohammed Mansoor and Returning Officer Voters abroad shown as having voted Lapsed 
			 27 June 2001 South Ribble North-West electoral division of Lancashire county council Peter Terence Wakeling Anthony Edward Pimblett, Max Winterbottom Ballot papers for another electoral division handed out to some voters in error. Special case 5 October 2001. Petition allowed. Election void. First respondent not duly elected. 
			 27 June 2001 Ellogen North electoral division, Redruth, Cornwall Terence Alan Rowe Paul Thomas Holmes, Geoffrey Gordon Cox, Adam John Beer, Noel Hutchinson 2 votes included wrongly Special case 18 December 2001 Petition allowed. Election void. First respondent not duly elected. 
			 22 May 2002 Sands End ward of London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Colin George Pavelin Richard Harbord, Stephen James Hamilton Ballot papers rejected for want of official mark affected result Special case 31 July 2002. Petition allowed. Election void. Second respondent not duly elected. 
			 23 May 2002 Aston ward, city of Birmingham Nain Ahmed Anthony Paul Kennedy, Stewart Dobson Successful candidate made false statements about petitions for purpose of affecting the result and/or alleged irregularities regarding opening of postal votes 4 October 2002 Petition struck out against second respondent 11 October 2002 Petition struck out against first respondent 
			 23 May 2002 Little Horton ward of Bradford metropolitan borough council Jamshed Khan Taj Mubarik Salam, Ian J Stewart Error in counting votes 29 November 2002 Petition dismissed. 
			 23 May 2002 Cheetham ward, city of Manchester Habib Ullah, Mohammed Sabir, Basten Ahmed Misbah Begum Martin Donald Pagel, Andrew Scallen Requests for proxy votes ignored, personation, delay in taking ballot box to council, comments by first respondent during campaign. 11 October 2002 Petition struck out. 
			 23 May 2002 Peckham ward, London borough of Southwark Mike Jinnah Rahman, Annette Pallas, Natalie Ajeon Barrie John Hargrove, William Kayada, Tayo Adelane Situ Marked register missing, Ballot box late arriving at court, count started before candidates arrived, voters removed from register, confusion over postal votes 29 November 2002 Petition dismissed with consent of first petitioner on behalf of co petitioners. 
			 21 May 2003 Belle Vale and Hasbury ward, metropolitan borough of Dudley Martin Christopher Knight Jill Cheryl Nicholls, Andrew Sparke Failure by R/O to ensure issued ballot papers were delivered in accordance with Part V of Rep of People Regulations 2001 19 December 2003 petition dismissed 
			 21 May 2003 St. Helens borough council in the parish of Sereley Green Sandra Cleary Joan Davies, Peter Blackburn Votes miscounted Special case 17 October 2003 Election void, Joan Davies not duly elected. 
			 21 May 2003 College ward of Wansbeck district council James Sawyer Michael Raymond Kirkup, Robert Stephenson Votes miscounted block of votes wrongly allocated to candidates Special case 17 October 2003 Election void, first respondent not duly elected. Petitioner duly elected. 
			 21 May 2003 Broughton and Appleby ward, North Lincolnshire district council Kenneth Anthony Edgell Ivan Glover, Michael Garnett Ballot papers in respect of postal voter wrongly counted(did not bear signature and authentication of voter 4 November 2003 Petition granted. Election void. Ivan Glover not duly elected 
			 23 May 2003 Hartley parish council Trevor Royston Modell Christopher Alford False statements against petitioner issued by respondent calculated to affect petitioners prospects of being re-elected Lapsed 
			 28 May 2003 Lightwater ward, borough of Surrey-Heath Lindsey Fellows Malcolm Bell, Dorothy Drummond, Peter Edward, Harper, Alan Clevely, Mr. Ghandum Election circulation delivered by Royal Mail to constituents in contravention of RP Act 31 July 2003 Permission to withdraw granted 
			 28 May 2003 Windlesham parish council( Lightwater ward Lindsey Fellows Surinder Ghandum, Alan Clevely Election circulation delivered by Royal Mail to constituents in contravention of RP Act 31 July 2003 Permission to withdraw granted 
			 23 June 2004 Aston ward, Birmingham city council Ayaz Iqbal, Nagmen Mir, Qadeer Ahmed, Naser Iqbal Mohammed Islam, Muhammed Afzal, Mohammed Kazi, Lin Homer Various concerning postal voting 4 April 2005 petition allowed, election void 
			 29 June 2003 Park ward, Calderdale metropolitan borough C M Saghir, Shakir Saghir, Faisal Saghir M Najib and 3 ors All postal ballot pilot failed. Breach of duty. Improper and unfair conduct 22 March 2005 Petition struck out 
			 29 June 2003 Bordesley Green, Birmingham city council Jamil Akhtar and 3 ors Shah Jahan and 6 ors Disputing postal ballot papers (tampering and personation 4 April 2005 Petition allowed, election void 
			 30 June 2004 Derringham ward, Kingston upon Hull John Philip Considine John Didrichsen Various (postal ballot papers 24 November 2004 election void 
			 6 July 2004 Flintshire Peter Pemberton Stella Jones Tyrone Wilcox was disqualified from standing for election 20 December 2004 petition dismissed

Rape Trials

Vera Baird: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what re-training is given to judges ticketed to try rape; and after what intervals from the date of their ticketing such training is given;
	(2)  what the contents are of the Judicial Studies Boards serious sexual offence courses; and who is obliged to attend them;
	(3)  what training on trying rape is given to judges prior to them being ticketed to hear such trials.

Harriet Harman: Judicial training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), an independent body chaired by Lord Justice Keene.
	No judge may hear a case involving rape or a serious sexual offence in the first instance without first having received appropriate JSB training, and the designated course for this is the Serious Sexual Offences Seminar (SSOS). Those authorised will be called to continuation training every three years from the date of their first attendance. SSOS is currently designed to cater for both those newly authorised and those receiving continuation training on the basis that a strong element of the training is in the sharing of experiences in general discussions, and in particular during the syndicate work for sentencing and practical problems. However, the question as to whether there should be separate seminars for those attending for the first time, and those receiving continuation training, is kept under review.
	The seminar is currently a residential two-day (over three) event and past programmes have included talks on the following:
	(1) research into public attitudes to sexual offending and the views of complainants and victims on the way in which sexual offences proceedings are handled.
	(2) The policies and practices of the police and Crown Prosecution Service in handling serious sexual offences.
	(3) Issues of evidential and procedural law and practice which bear on the conduct of trials in such cases.
	(4) Sentencing issues and the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders in the community and in prison. Also included in the programme is a series of discussions, in small groups, of trial and sentencing issues.
	In addition, judges of every rank, including the High Court and the Court of Appeal, who exercise the criminal jurisdiction, also received some training on the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 as part of a programme of training on the Criminal Justice Reforms that ran between January and March 2005. This was supplemented with written material provided at the time the Act came into force.
	Newly appointed High Court Judges attend a Serious Sexual Offences Seminar at the earliest opportunity if they have not recently done so in a previous capacity. Further continuation training for High Court Judges is arranged at their request.

Rape Trials

Vera Baird: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what monitoring is carried out of the frequency with which individual judges allow applications to admit previous sexual history in rape trials.

Harriet Harman: The Government do not monitor decisions made by individual judges in exercise of their judicial discretion.

Rape Trials

Vera Baird: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of rape trials were cracked at court with the defendant tendering a plea of guilty to a lesser offence during (a) 2003 and (b) 2004.

Harriet Harman: In 2003 one (0.4 per cent.) case out of 286 cracked at court because the defendant tendered a guilty plea to a lesser offence. In 2004, it was two (0.8 per cent.) out of 254.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Business Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the 2005 business rates revaluation in England was revenue-neutral.

Phil Woolas: The Local Government Finance Act 1988 limits the increase in the non-domestic multiplier in line with the retail prices index and takes into account losses from appeals over the life of the rating lists. This ensures that no additional revenue is collected purely as a result of revaluation.
	The total yield for 2004–05 (provisional outturn) is £16,214 million. Based on current estimates from local authorities, the estimated total yield for 2005–06 is £17,000 million.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he expects the 2007 council tax revaluation in England to be revenue-neutral.

Phil Woolas: The Government set out in its 2001 White Paper "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services" its policy that revaluation should not lead to a change in the overall council tax yield.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effects on (a) the council tax base and (b) council tax receipts of reducing council tax discounts on (i) empty homes and (ii) second homes in England.

Phil Woolas: According to budget returns from local authorities, reductions in council tax discounts in England for long-term empty and second homes for 2004–05 led to increases in the council tax base of 42,600 and 62,700 Band D equivalent properties respectively.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect information on the effect of changes to these discounts on council tax receipts.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average Band D council tax in (a) county councils, (b) metropolitan councils, (c) unitary councils and (d) London boroughs was in each year from 1997–98 to 2005–06.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Band D council tax(8), 2 adults for area -- £
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06(9) 
		
		
			 Shire county 666 738 796 848 903 992 1,129 1,198 1,246 
			 Metropolitan 779 833 878 919 968 1,017 1,098 1,143 1,190 
			 Shire unitary 698 736 779 825 879 958 1,066 1,145 1,197 
			 London 651 687 731 778 841 895 1,058 1,119 1,162 
			 Total England 688 747 798 847 901 976 1,102 1,167 1,214 
		
	
	(8) Amounts shown are headline taxes, before transitional relief and benefits.
	(9) Amounts shown for 2005–06 are before capping
	Source:
	BR1, BR2 and BR3 forms

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to introduce council tax revaluation transitional relief in England in 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Government are committed to a transitional relief scheme. They will consult on their proposals for the scheme at the same time as they consult on proposals for revaluing and reforming council tax in the light of the Lyons Inquiry.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average council tax per dwelling levied in each billing authority in England was in each year from 1997–98 to 2005–06.

Phil Woolas: The figures requested have been made available in the Library of the House.

Council Tax

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of local government revenue expenditure in England was financed by council tax in each year since 1996–97; and what the estimated proportion for 2005–06 is.

Phil Woolas: The proportion of local government revenue expenditure financed by council tax in England each year from 1996–97 is shown in the following table.
	
		Council tax as a percentage of local government revenue expenditure
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1996–97 22 
			 1997–98 24 
			 1998–99 25 
			 1999–2000 25 
			 2000–01 25 
			 2001–02 25 
			 2002–03 25 
			 2003–04 25 
			 2004–05 26 
		
	
	The data are as reported by local authorities and are taken from outturn figures for 1996–97 to 2003–04 and budget estimates for 2004–05. The figures shown are gross of council tax benefit.
	Estimates are not yet available for 2005–06.

HomeBuy

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Social HomeBuy scheme is voluntary for housing associations.

Yvette Cooper: The Government's detailed proposals on Social HomeBuy, which would help social tenants to purchase a share in their rented home at a discount, are set out in our consultation document—"HomeBuy—expanding the opportunity to own"—launched on 1 April 2005. The document makes clear that Social HomeBuy will be voluntary for both housing associations and local authorities.
	The consultation period ends on 24 June and the aim is to have the new scheme running by April 2006.

Housing (South Hampshire)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with (a) the South East England Regional Assembly and (b) the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire and its constituent local authorities on the level of infrastructure required to support the house building targets set out in the draft sub-regional strategy for South Hampshire.

Yvette Cooper: Officials from the Government office for the south-east (GOSE) were invited by the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire to attend their meetings, and have taken a close interest in progress on the strategy for South Hampshire. As a result, South Hampshire was mentioned in the Departments five-year Strategy: 'Homes for All'.
	Where local partners want to pursue planned growth that is consistent with existing or emerging Regional Spatial Strategies, and subject to the normal statutory procedures, the Government will support them. Senior officials from GOSE and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have met with local authority officers in South Hampshire to take forward this commitment.
	I have not had any discussions with the Regional assembly on this subject.

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government plan to move to a four-year election cycle for local government.

Phil Woolas: The Government are committed to examining the case for simplifying the current local government election cycle by moving towards 'whole council' elections every four years.

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to conduct future local elections, in whole or part, via remote electronic voting; and if he will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: I have been asked to reply.
	As we made clear in our response to The Electoral Commission's report, 'Delivering democracy? The future of postal voting', laid before the House on 9 December 2004, the Government remain committed to the goal of multi-channel elections, in which voters choices will include e-voting channels. Our strategy for achieving this goal is to encourage local authorities to continue the programme of local electoral pilots, including remote e-voting.

Local Government

David Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many local authorities in England have schemes allowing councillors to make grants out of public funds; and what monitoring there is of the uses to which such funds are put.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The discussion document, "Citizen Engagement and Public Services: Why Neighbourhoods Matter" (January 2005), suggests ideas about devolving to each ward's councillors control over a small pot of money for the benefit of that ward.

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the timetable is for capping local authorities in 2005–06.

Phil Woolas: All nine authorities which were designated have challenged the maximum budgets proposed. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is receiving delegations from all the authorities to listen to their cases and will carefully consider both their formal challenges and their representations at the meetings before taking final decisions.
	In-year capping is subject to approval by the House of Commons and we aim to have completed any necessary parliamentary stages before the summer recess.

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to amend the local government pension scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: A statutory consultation exercise on proposals to amend the local government pension scheme in England and Wales began on 1 April 2005 and concludes on 31 May 2005. Once the responses have been carefully considered a decision will be taken on the next steps. In due course other statutory amendments to the Scheme will come forward within the requirements of the Superannuation Act 1972, and after full consultation with all the interested parties.

London Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to reassess the role of the (a) Government office for London and (b) Greater London authority; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A joint Treasury/Office of the Deputy Prime Minister review is currently taking place on the future role of the Government office network, including the Government office for London. The review's emerging proposals were announced in the 2005 Budget report. The final report will be published later this year.
	The Government gave a manifesto commitment to review the powers of the London Mayor and the Greater London authority. We will provide more details on this review in due course.

Negative Subsidy

Paul Holmes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was taken in negative subsidy from (a) all councils and (b) Chesterfield borough council in each of the last two years.

Yvette Cooper: Total negative subsidy in 2004–05 was £620,543,656. The equivalent figure, representing the total negative housing element for 2003–04 was £706,268,335. Negative subsidy generated by some councils is captured so that it can be redistributed to other authorities with an assumed deficit. It is not retained by central Government.
	Negative subsidy for Chesterfield in 2004–05 was £3,559,478. The borough's negative housing element in 2003–04 was £3,508,419.
	The definition of negative subsidy was changed by the Local Government Act 2003, which came into force on 1 April 2004. The figures given above are directly comparable, though the terminology changed between the financial years.

Regional Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what (a) powers, (b) responsibilities and (c) functions the Government have allocated to regional chambers since November 2004;
	(2)  what plans the Government have to transfer powers and responsibility to the regional chambers; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Regional assemblies have not been given any new powers or responsibilities since November 2004. The Government stated in our manifesto that we would continue to devolve further responsibilities to the existing regional bodies in relation to planning, housing, economic development and transport. We will, as we take forward our regional policies, continue to include the regional assemblies in our considerations.

Regional Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role county councils will play in the allocation of housing numbers by district under the new regional spatial strategies.

Yvette Cooper: Regional spatial strategies (RSSs) contain housing numbers by district, and the draft revisions are prepared by the regional planning body (RPB) for the region. RPBs in all regions have not less than 60 per cent. of their members drawn from local authorities, including county councils.
	RPBs are required to seek the advice of certain authorities, including county councils when preparing, keeping under review and implementing RSSs, and these authorities are required to give the RPB their advice. These authorities must have the opportunity to prepare the detailed proposals for different provision for different parts of the region, if the RPB decides to make such provision. The RPB must also consult statutory consultees including county councils prior to examination in public of the strategy.

Tenants Rental Payments

Paul Holmes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total revenue received by Chesterfield borough council in tenants' rent payments was in each year since 1997; and what proportion of this revenue was taken by central Government to fund housing benefit.

Yvette Cooper: The rental income received by Chesterfield in each year from 1997 is as shown in the following table, the figures are taken from the audited subsidy claim forms provided by the local authority. Government receipts from rental income are not hypothecated to the benefit system.
	Before April 2004 the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) comprised two elements: a housing element and a rent rebate element. Where an authority's housing element generated an assumed surplus, it was offset against the rent rebate element simply as an accounting convenience to ensure simplicity of administration. It did not fund the costs of housing benefit to central Government.
	
		Chesterfield borough council rental income since 1997
		
			 Financial year £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 18,333,096 
			 1998–99 18,069,527 
			 1999–2000 19,518,000 
			 2000–01 19,331,286 
			 2001–02 20,141,279 
			 2002–03 20,930,604 
			 2003–04 21,176,090 
			 2004–05 21,694,156

Thames Gateway Bridge

David Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to make a statement on the commencement date for the full public inquiry into the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge.

Phil Woolas: My right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State for Transport announced the commencement date for the public inquiry into the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge on 25 February 2005 and reaffirmed it in a further letter on 17 May. The inquiry will open on Tuesday 7 June, 2005 with the initial inquiry sessions held at Charlton Athletic Football Club. Upon conclusion of those first sessions, there will be an adjournment until 13 September, 2005 when the inquiry will reconvene at Woolwich Town Hall, Greenwich.

Thames Gateway Bridge

David Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received about the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: My right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Transport, the Planning Inspectorate and the London boroughs of Greenwich and Newham received in the region of 3,000 representations about the Thames Gateway Bridge. The representations came from a wide range of sources including businesses, community organisations and local residents. Of those objecting to the proposal, the issues most frequently raised were:
	Lack of choice for different crossing schemes e.g. rail.
	Concerns about the information provided in the traffic and transport assessment.
	Adverse environmental impacts, that the scheme undermines national and local transport policies.
	Traffic will not be local.
	Impact on air quality is unclear.
	Job creation figures are questionable.
	Traffic forecasts are unreliable and the regeneration case for the bridge not proven.
	Air pollution, noise pollution and congestion of the existing road network.
	Noise impacts, flight paths, flood plain, the future of the Woolwich ferry and community isolation.
	Impact on the existing highway network.

Travellers

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to change planning (a) regulations, (b) legislation and (c) guidelines relating to Travellers.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister issued a draft for consultation of a new planning circular for Gypsy and Traveller sites in December 2004. We have received over 300 responses and will announce our conclusions when we have considered the representations made on the draft circular. New planning regulations relating to the use of temporary stop notices came into effect on 7 March. Work is under way on new guidance to local authorities and police on enforcement plans.

Travellers

Michael Fallon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to announce the conclusions of his review of Travellers and planning law.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister issued a draft for consultation of a new planning circular for Gypsy and Traveller sites in December 2004. We have received over 300 responses and will announce our conclusions when we have considered the representations made on the draft circular.